Sicily & marsala

Marsala is a city on Sicily’s westernmost tip. Famed for its marina and the Stagnone lagoon formed between Sicily and the small Isola Lunga to the West, Marsala commands the approaches to South Italy from the west.

The city’s origins date to 397 BC when the tyrant Dionysius I, ruler of Syracuse, attacked and destroyed the Carthaginian city of Motoya, on an island just off Sicily’s shores. The survivors fled to the Sicilian mainland and founded the colony of Lilybaeum, which evolved into an important port city. The city was a major prize for the Romans during the Punic Wars, and was absorbed into the Republic by 210 BC.

A wealthy city filled with mansions and urban amenities, it was named splendidissima urbs by none other than Cicero, and remained a major city throughout the Imperial period. Sacked by the Vandals in the 5th century, annexed to Justinian’s reconstituted Roman Empire in the 6th, invaded by Arab armies in the 8th century, the town was renamed Marsa ‘Ali (Ali’s harbor) in Arabic. Conquered in turn by Norman, Angevin and Aragonese armies, then by Imperial troops once again, the city (and the entire island) has seen more history than most countries. Finally in the 18th century, Marsala was Garibaldi’s landing point for his Thousand, instrumental in the Risorgimento… the Unification of Italy. Today the city is a quiet town of some 85,000 with a superb harbor frequented by luxury yachts and their zillionaire owners… still the Crossroads of the Central Mediterranean.

antichi baronati

Our Antichi Baronati brand of Marsala is produced by Rallo, a farm/winery owned by the Vesco family. They produce olives, wine, wheat and other specialty agricultural produces from holdings near Alcamo, Marsala and on the offshore island of Pantelleria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its capers.

The firm was founded by Don Diego Rallo in 1850, and grew to become an important player in the West Sicily wine business, producing both Marsala and table wines. Purchased from Don Diego’s descendents by the Vesco family in 1997, the winery has since moved to a fully organic mode, gaining Agricert and BioSuisse certifications for all its products. Today the winery owns some 220 acres of land, of which 150 are planted to vines, with the balance in wheat, olives or in its natural state.

The wines

Antichi Baronati Fine Dry Ambra: a lighter, off-dry Marsala from 60% Grillo, 40% Inzolia, Fermented in stainless without undergoing malolactic, aged for 18 months in Slovenian oak, then 3 months in bottle before release.

Antichi Baronati Fine Sweet Ambra: a fully sweet Marsala from 60% Grillo, 40% Inzolia, Fermented in stainless without undergoing malolactic, aged for 18 months in Slovenian oak, then 3 months in bottle before release.

marsala: the wine

Marsala is the name given the fortified wine produced in the hills behind the city. It is most similar to Sherry in production technique, and most similar to Madeira in flavor. Its international popularity is due to the Englishman, John Woodhouse, who landed in the port of Marsala in 1773 and recognized that the British would appreciate these wines as they did Sherry and Port. Woodhouse founded a production and export house, later absorbed into the expanding Florio Marsala empire. Today production is dominated by Florio and Pellegrini, although many smaller boutique houses remain.

Production Process

The Marsala vineyards are largely planted to indigenous Sicilian white varietals including Cataratto, Grillo, Inzolia, and others in lesser amounts.

Marsala is fortified by halting the fermentation by the addition of brandy. It is then aged in a series of barrels through which the wine slowly migrates in what is referred to as the in perpetuum process, similar to a Sherry solera. The long, slow and gentle oxidation stabilizes the wines, making them useful for extended sea voyages.

The final sweetness is determined by the addition of either unfermented grape juice or mosto cotto- carmelized cooked grape must, before final blending and bottling. Marsala is graded as Secco (<40g/l sugar at bottling, semisecco (40-100 g/l) and dolce (over 100 g/l).

Types & Grades

• Oro has a golden color

• Ambra has an amber color. The coloring comes from the mosto cotto sweetener added to the wine

• Rubino has a ruby color, made from red grape varieties

• Fine is aged at least one year

• Superiore is aged at least two years

• Superiore Riserva is aged at least four years

• Vergine and/or Soleras is aged at least five years

• Vergine and/or Soleras Stravecchio and Vergine and/or Soleras Riserva is aged at least ten years