Marsala

To continue from last week on Madeira and on fortified wines that were pretty popular in the past but not so much now , we are going to talk a bit about Marsala.

Marsala comes from the island of Sicily and it's name derives from the port of the same name located at the northwest tip of the island. The port was initially called Marsah-el-Allah under Arab rule , later Marsala.

Marsala began being shipped all over as far back as 1773 by a chap named John Woodhouse who is credited with starting to produce this fortified wine.

It can come in dry ( secco ) , semi-sweet ( semi-secco ) , or sweet ( dolce ) , and can be classified by colour as well from gold ( oro ) , amber ( ambra ) , and red ( rubino ). How is that for an Italian lesson?

To fortify the wine some neutral spirit is added and if a sweetened variety is appropriate some local grape concentrate is included for the finished product.

There are four categories of Marsala that you will find. Beginning from the lowest category to the highest is the Marsala Fine , Marsala Superiore , Marsala Vergine , and Marsala Solera.

Marsala Fine is aged for just a year and not necessarily in wood and has at least 17% alcohol by volume. This is a very cheap tasting Marsala by all accounts that I have read.

Marsala Superiore is aged for at least two years in wood and if it is a riserva it's aged four years. This must have an alcohol of at least 18%.

The Marsala Vergine variety is aged for at least 5 years in wood or 10 if a riserva. No grape concentrate is allowed therefore comes in the secco version only with the minimum alcohol being 18%.

Last but not least and of the highest quality is the Superiore aged the same way and secco version only. The same percentage of alcohol is required.

The best grape to make Marsala is the original grape variety called Grillo. There are other grape varieties as well native to Sicily but for ease of remembering just think of Grillo. Like grilling on the BBQ.

There are some flavoured Marsala as well from chocolate , orange , and banana. There is even a Marsala that contains 80% Marsala wine , eggs , and a minimum of 200 grams of residual sugar per liter. It is really sweet as you could probably imagine!

Some food matches for the dry version of Marsala would be an antipasto with olive oil or an aperitif with nuts. For the sweet version try a sticky toffee pudding or a cake with some chocolate and almonds.

Unfortunately Marsala is not normally found on many wine lists. Usually the kitchen is ordering a couple of bottles to use with their sauces in the kitchen. There must be a tug of war between Madeira and Marsala in some kitchens to gain the upper hand.

A style between Madeira and sherry , marsala can find a niche in the kitchen and hopefully one day a real good marsala will regain it's popularity it once had in the mid 19th century. What do they say , " what goes around comes around."

Madeira

Today's wine post is about a fortified wine that comes from the island of Madeira which belongs to Portugal in the Atlantic. I have had the opportunity of stopping for a day at the port of Funchal doing a crossing of the Atlantic while working on a cruiseship. What a beautiful island it is too!

The story of Madeira starts when the early explorers while heading south toward the West Indies searching for the spices or just seeking out new lands to claim , would bring with them some wine to drink. Over a long voyage without any temperature control in those days , the wine would undergo a transformation in the bottle when it crossed the equator causing the wine to heat up and oxidize. When the explorers opened the bottle to drink in the New World they noticed it was not the same as it was back where they started. Actually it tasted a whole lot better to them. The heating of it gave it longevity as well.

So when we say a wine is madeirized in today's world of wine terminology it means the wine is cooked and oxidized. The main cause is it has been stored in too high a temperature. Not a good thing for a wine but for Madeira it is normal. Unfortunately that is why you do not see Madeira on too many wine lists and is mainly used in the kitchen for that madeira sauce you see on the menu. It deserves better attention than what it is given.

To reproduce the same effect of the temperature changes that took place when the explorers used to cross the equator with bottles of wine , a unique method called "estufa" which literally means stove was begun.

How this works is the wine will be held in stainless steel tanks with a water-jacket containing hot water. Heated gently to about 113 degrees F ( 45 C ) , the wine returns to an ambient temperature over the next 6 months. It is gently cooled so as to allow the wine to develop without any unwanted flavours.

Another more traditional method is to store and rack in heated warehouses so that the wine can adjust to the changing temperatures gradually. This is called the canteiro system by which the more noble wines are usually aged.

Using either method , the wine is must be aged 3 years before going on sale.

The four noble grape varieties to make madeira are malvasia , bual , verdelho and sercial. The other grape variety used to make up over half the madeira is the Tinta Negra Mole.

Malmsey which is associated with the Malvasia grape is the sweetest version of Madeira. Malvasia has an extreme sweetness and strength that comes from ripening late that enables this grape to succeed in making the sweet version.

Madeira colheitas are single vintage wines made from the noble varieties which can survive up to 200 years. These wines must be stored in casks for a minimum of 20 years and bottled for another two years before going on sale.

When you see a Madeira bottle with the label saying malmsey , bual , verdelho , or sercial on it , this means that it must be produced by at least 85 % of the named grape. Usually sold as 5 ,10, or 15 year old madeira and colheita as well.

When you see sweet , medium-sweet , medium dry , and dry , this madeira is made from the workhorse grape Tinta Negra Mole with the four levels of sweetness representing the styles of the four noble grapes.

As with port , during fermentation the wine is fortified to about 17-18%.

Here is a brief description of the 4 noble grape varieties from dry to sweetest.

Sercial - coming from the highest vineyard and harvested very late this wine is the slowest to develop and needs aging before it can be enjoyed as a wonderful aperitif more substantial than a fino sherry.

Verdelho - a faint honey and smokey flavour this madeira is good before or after meals.

Bual - the most planted white grape variety on the island it is slightly less sweet than Malmsey and lighter but still makes an excellent dessert wine.

Malmsey ( Malvasia ) - the sweetest of all and the earliest maturing , it has soft texture and very fragrant. Fatty in the mouth you can distinguish it with it's colour of dark brown.

If you get a chance and you see Madeira at your local wine store pick up a bottle of Malmsey and enjoy it on it's own after dinner. It makes a nice digestif.