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{{Short description|Fortified wine from Sicily, Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{distinguish|text=[[spice mix|Masala]], a mixture of spices in South Asian cuisine}}
[[Image:Marsala Wine.jpg|180px|thumb|right|Marsala wine]]

'''Marsala''' is a [[fortified wine]], dry or sweet, produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of [[Marsala]] in Sicily. Marsala first received ''[[Denominazione di Origine Controllata]]'' (DOC) status in 1969.<ref name="doc">
{{cite web
 |last        = Scagliarini
 |first       = Loris
 |title       = Marsala Wine Characteristics
 |publisher   = WineCountry.IT
 |url         = http://www.winecountry.it/phpfunctions/winepopup_revised.php?WineId=353
 |access-date  = 24 December 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20061006230720/http://www.winecountry.it/phpfunctions/winepopup_revised.php?WineId=353
 |archive-date = 6 October 2006
}}</ref>
The [[European Union]] grants [[Protected designation of origin]] (PDO) status to Marsala and most other countries limit the use of the term ''Marsala'' to products from the [[Marsala]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_packaging/l21303_en.htm |title=Labelling of wine and certain other wine sector products |publisher=Europa (web portal) |access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref>

While unfortified wine is also produced in the Marsala region, it does not qualify for the Marsala DOC.<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 January 2016|title=Sicily's most interesting but nearly extinct wine |website= Living a Life in Colour|url=http://www.livingalifeincolour.com/sicilys-most-interesting-but-nearly-extinct-wine/|access-date=11 January 2023}}{{sps|date=May 2023}}</ref>

==History==
Marsala fortified wine was probably first popularized outside [[Sicily]] by the [[Liverpool]] merchant John Woodhouse. In 1773, he landed at the port of [[Marsala]] and discovered the local wine produced in the region, which was aged in [[Oak (wine)|wooden casks]] and tasted similar to [[Spanish wine|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese wine|Portuguese]] fortified wines then popular in England.<ref name=ocw-m>{{cite web  |website=Winepros |format=Oxford Companion to Wine |title=Marsala |url=http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=1923 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808134130/http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=1923 |archive-date=8 August 2008 }}</ref> Fortified wine in Marsala has always been made using a process called ''in perpetuum'', which is similar to the ''[[solera]]'' system used to produce [[Sherry]] in [[Jerez de la Frontera|Jerez]], Spain.<ref name="in per">{{cite web|last=Biancalana|first=Antonello|title=Wine Producers: Florio|publisher=DiWineTaste|date=June 2007|url=http://www.diwinetaste.com/dwt/en2007064.php|access-date=24 December 2007}}</ref>

Woodhouse recognized that the ''in perpetuum'' process raised the alcohol level and alcoholic taste of this wine while also preserving these characteristics during long-distance sea travel. Woodhouse further believed that fortified Marsala would be popular in England. Marsala indeed proved so successful that Woodhouse returned to Sicily and, in 1796, began its mass production and commercialization.<ref name="ice cream">{{cite web|last=Bridle|first=James|title=Marsala Ice Cream|publisher=Cooking With Booze website|url=http://cookingwithbooze.org/fortified-wine/marsala-ice-cream/|access-date=4 December 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114085700/http://cookingwithbooze.org/fortified-wine/marsala-ice-cream/|archive-date=14 November 2007}}</ref> In 1806, it was [[Whitaker family|Benjamin Ingham]] (1784–1861), arriving in Sicily from [[Leeds]], who opened new markets for Marsala in Europe and the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=10074|title=Benjamin Ingham - The Florentine|date=28 May 2015}}</ref> Founded by Benjamin Ingham and later run by [[Joseph Whitaker (ornithologist)|Joseph Whitaker]] and William Ingham Whitaker.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ossett.net/ossett_people.html|title=SOME NOTABLE OSSETT PEOPLE|access-date=4 September 2020|publisher=Ossett}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dallaterra.com/producer/tenuta-whitaker|title=TENUTA WHITAKER|access-date=4 September 2020|publisher=Dalla Terra}}</ref> Joseph and his brother William Ingham Whitaker inherited vast vineyards and his great grandfather Ingham's banking empire.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmricha/id45.htm |title=Whitaker |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=11 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211140054/http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmricha/id45.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

In 1833, the entrepreneur [[Vincenzo Florio Sr.|Vincenzo Florio]], a Calabrese by birth and Palermitano by adoption, bought up great swathes of land between the two largest established Marsala producers and set to making his own vintage with even more exclusive range of grape.<ref name="SW">{{cite web|title=Marsala|publisher=SicilyWeb|url=http://www.sicilyweb.com/english/trapani/marsala.htm|access-date=2007-12-04}}</ref> [[Florio]] purchased Woodhouse's firm, among others, in the late nineteenth century and consolidated the Marsala wine industry. Florio and Pellegrino remain the leading producers of Marsala today.<ref name="producers">{{cite web|last=Thomson|first=Patricia|title=Sicilian Wine Reborn: A New Breed of Winemakers Is Shaking Up Sicily|publisher=Tastes OF Italia Magazine (via La Dolce Vita Wine Tours website)|date=July 2003|url=http://www.dolcetours.com/re_article6.htm|access-date=24 December 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101051457/http://www.dolcetours.com/re_article6.htm|archive-date=1 January 2008}}</ref>

==Characteristics and types==
[[File:Marsala.jpg|thumb|Different types of ''Marsala'']]
Marsala is produced using the [[Grillo]], [[Inzolia]], [[Catarratto]] and Damaschino<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diwinetaste.com/dwt/it2005052.php|title=Articolo DiWineTaste: Marsala|first=Antonello Biancalana - ProMIND software development -|last=DiWineTaste}}</ref> white grape varietals, among others.<ref name="varietal">{{cite web|last=Bicais|first=Ben|title=Marsala|publisher=Calwineries|url=http://www.calwineries.com/learn/wine-production/fortified-wine-production/marsala|access-date=24 December 2007}}</ref>

Marsala contains about 15–20% alcohol by volume. Different Marsala wines are classified according to their color, sweetness, and duration of their ageing. The three levels of sweetness are ''secco'' (with a maximum of 40 grams of [[residual sugar]] per liter), ''semisecco'' (41–100 g/L), and ''sweet'' (over 100 g/L). The color and ageing classifications are as follows:<ref name="Oxford pg 428-429">J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition p. 428–429 Oxford University Press 2006 {{ISBN|0-19-860990-6}}</ref>
* ''Ambra'' has an amber colour. The coloring comes from the ''mosto cotto'' sweetener added to the wine
* ''Oro'' has a golden colour
* ''Rubino'' has a ruby colour, made from red grape varieties such as [[Perricone]], [[Nero d'Avola]] and [[Nerello Mascalese]]<ref name="Saunders">P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 176 Firefly Books 2004 {{ISBN|1-55297-720-X}}</ref>
* ''Fine'' is aged at least one year<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/9754.pdf |title=Info |website=ler.letras.up.pt |format=PDF}}</ref>
* ''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<ref name="varietal" />

Marsala wine was traditionally served as an [[aperitif]] between the first and second courses of a meal. Contemporary diners will serve its drier versions chilled with [[Parmesan cheese|Parmesan]] (stravecchio), [[Gorgonzola cheese|Gorgonzola]], [[Roquefort cheese|Roquefort]], and other spicy cheeses, with fruits or pastries, and the sweeter at [[room temperature]] as a [[dessert wine]].<ref name="doc" /> Marsala is sometimes discussed with another Sicilian wine, ''Passito di Pantelleria'' ([[Pantelleria Island]]'s [[raisin]] wine).<ref name="enoteca">{{cite web|last=Italian Trade Commission|title=Enoteca 2006: Mariani Sheds Light on Marsala|publisher=Italian Trade Commission (New York)|date=16 March 2006|url=http://www.italianmade.com/trade/feature.cfm?art_ID=223|access-date=24 December 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722223307/http://italianmade.com/trade/feature.cfm?art_ID=223|archive-date=22 July 2007}}</ref>

==In cooking==
Marsala wine is frequently used in cooking, and is especially prevalent in dishes served in [[Italian-American cuisine|Italian restaurants in the United States]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Dry Marsala wine is used in savory cooking.  A typical savory Marsala sauce, for example, involves [[Reduction (cooking)|reducing]] the wine almost to a syrup with onions or [[shallot]]s, then adding [[mushroom]]s and herbs. One of the most popular Marsala recipes is [[chicken marsala]], in which flour-coated pounded chicken breast halves are [[Braising|braised]] in a mixture of Marsala, butter, olive oil, mushrooms, and spices.<ref name="CM">{{cite web
  | last = Rogers
  | first = Cathy
  | title = What is Chicken Marsala?
  | publisher = wiseGeek.com
  | url = http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-chicken-marsala.htm
  | access-date = 4 December 2007 }}</ref> Marsala is also used in some [[risotto]] recipes.

Sweet Marsala wine is used to produce rich Italian desserts such as ''[[zabaione]]'', [[tiramisu]] and [[shortcake]].<ref name="recipes">{{cite web
 |title=Florio Marsala Recipes
 |publisher=Banfi Vintners
 |url=http://www.banfivintners.com/florio/florio_recipes.html
 |access-date=4 December 2007
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201134205/http://www.banfivintners.com/florio/florio_recipes.html
 |archive-date=1 December 2007
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref>{{Portal|Italy|Drink|Wine}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Alcoholic drinks}}

[[Category:Fortified wine]]
[[Category:Italian DOC]]
[[Category:Marsala]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Sicily]]
[[Category:Florio family]]
[[Category:Wines of Sicily]]