Cantine Pellegrino Marsala Superiore Old Dry 18%

Description

Cantine Pellegrino Marsala Superiore Old Dry is an aged, dry (or Secco) style of Marsala, perfect as an aperitif (or a dessert wines if you don’t like them too sweet) or as an ingredient in Italian savoury dishes like chicken or veal Marsala. For cooking desserts use a sweeter Marsala like the Pellegrino Garibaldi.

Unlike other fortified wines, the creation of Marsala can be pinpointed to one man, Englishman, John Woodhouse. Woodhouse was a connoisseur of Port, Madeira and Sherry and when he arrived in the city of Marsala in 1770, it wasn’t long before he thought to try fortifying the local wines. In 1773 he added 8 litres of grape brandy to 400 litre barrels of wine, shipped it to England, and, effectively Marsala was born. Marsala first received Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) status in 1969. Today, Cantine Pellegrino, along with their competitors Cantine Florio, are recognised as the two top Marsala producers. Cantine Pellegrino came a little after Woodhouse. It was established in 1880 by Paolo Pellegrino and the company today remains in family ownership (one of only 2 to do so) and is one of only 3 Marsala houses founded in the 19^th century that is still in existence.

There are quite a few different style of Marsala and they vary in terms of sweetness (from sweet through to dry), in terms of ageing (some in a system similar to the Solera system in Sherry, some in single casks) and then in the length of times the wines are aged. Most Marsala is white, but some is also made from red grapes. Essentially all begin life as a wine fermented to dryness (for dry Marsala) or as unfermented grape must (for sweeter styled) which are then fortified with unaged grape spirit or sometimes aged grape brandy. Read more about Marsala here.

Cantine Pellegrino Marsala Superiore Old Dry is bottled as Superior Old Marsala Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC). It is made from indigenous Sicilian varieties Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia sourced vineyards surrounding Marsala and Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani. The wine is aged in oak for 2 years. 

This wine is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.