Marsala Fortification Tradition

Decanter's Marisa Finetti places the start of fortified Marsala in 1773, when the English merchant John Woodhouse arrived on the shores of Marsala and spotted an opportunity in the local solera-style wine. With the addition of a splash of distilled spirit to stabilise it for the journey home, a new wine trade was born. Wine Spectator's Robert Camuto dates Marsala's fortification to the late 18th century, when British merchants began shipping the wines home and added alcohol to help them withstand the long trip by sea. In the first half of the 19th century, according to Decanter, the Englishman Benjamin Ingham and the Italian Vincenzo Florio transformed Marsala's global reputation. The older, unfortified style did not vanish. Decanter describes the pre-British style that preceded fortified Marsala as one long respected, and drunk, by Sicilian locals, and credits Marco De Bartoli with reviving the ancient vino perpetuo method in the late 1970s. The producer calls its Vecchio Samperi the wine of the pre-British Marsala tradition, the vino di Marsala rather than fortified Marsala, and says Marco De Bartoli restored the perpetuo or Solera method at the Baglio di Samperi in 1978 and made Vecchio Samperi for the first time in 1980.

• 1773: John Woodhouse, an English merchant, arrives in Marsala and adds distilled spirit to the local solera-style wine to stabilise it for the journey home (Decanter)
• First half of the 19th century: Benjamin Ingham and Vincenzo Florio transform Marsala's global reputation (Decanter); Cantine Florio says Vincenzo Florio founded its Marsala cellars in 1833
• The unfortified pre-British style that preceded fortified Marsala was long respected and drunk by Sicilian locals, according to Decanter
• 1978: Marco De Bartoli restores the perpetuo or Solera method at the Baglio di Samperi; 1980: the first Vecchio Samperi, according to the producer

In perpetuum is a fractional-aging system for blending wines of different ages, and Wine Spectator's Robert Camuto describes it as similar to the solera system used to produce Sherry in Jerez. Each year a fraction of the mature wine is drawn from the barrels holding the longest-aged blend for bottling. The barrels drawn are replenished with the next oldest wine, that barrel in turn with the oldest wine after that, and so on, until the barrel holding the youngest blend is replenished with new wine from the latest harvest. Marco De Bartoli describes the same principle for Vecchio Samperi: small portions of freshly made wine are transferred into casks holding wines that have already aged, creating a blend of different vintages, a method the producer calls in perpetuum and likens to the Solera system. At the De Bartoli winery, Wine Spectator reports, Renato De Bartoli draws off about 5 percent of the in perpetuum wine from the longest-aged barrels each year to make around 7,000 bottles of Vecchio Samperi. The producer ferments the Grillo with indigenous yeasts in oak and chestnut casks at ambient temperature and ages the wine for an average of at least 15 years by the perpetuo method.

• Fractional aging: wine is drawn every year from the barrels holding the longest-aged blend (Wine Spectator)
• Refill cascade: each drawn barrel is topped up with the next oldest wine, and the youngest barrel takes new wine from the latest harvest (Wine Spectator)
• De Bartoli draws off about 5 percent of its in perpetuum wine each year to make around 7,000 bottles of Vecchio Samperi (Wine Spectator, 2023)
• Wine Spectator and Marco De Bartoli both liken in perpetuum to the Sherry solera system

The disciplinare allows only fair and constant oenological practices and, in particular, the addition of ethyl alcohol of viticultural origin or wine brandy (acquavite di vino). At Cantine Florio, the base wine meets the alcohol at the end of fermentation. Florio's oenologist then chooses the fortification for each lot from the tools the producer lists: ethyl alcohol of wine origin, mistella, and mosto cotto. The disciplinare defines sifone as must suitable for Marsala to which ethyl alcohol of viticultural origin or wine brandy has been added; Florio describes its mistella, which it also calls sifone, as alcohol added to must to stop fermentation and keep the grape sugars. Mosto cotto, in Florio's description, is made by cooking must over a direct flame for several hours. Decanter reports that winemakers choose whether to add mistella or mosto cotto to shape the wine's final character and help distinguish one style from another, with mosto cotto adding concentrated sugars along with a caramelised character and deep colour. The disciplinare bans mosto cotto from Marsala Fine and Superiore in the oro and rubino types, requires at least 1% mosto cotto in Fine and Superiore ambra, and bans mosto cotto, concentrated must, and sifone from Marsala Vergine. The disciplinare sets a minimum total alcohol of 17.50% vol for Marsala Fine and 18.00% vol for Superiore, Superiore Riserva, Vergine, and Vergine Stravecchio. The grapes for oro and ambra are Grillo, Catarratto, Ansonica (locally Inzolia), and Damaschino; for rubino they are Perricone (locally Pignatello), Calabrese (locally Nero d'Avola), and Nerello Mascalese, with the white grapes allowed up to 30% of the total.

• Alcohol: the disciplinare permits only ethyl alcohol of viticultural origin or wine brandy (acquavite di vino)
• Sifone: must with added ethyl alcohol of viticultural origin or wine brandy (disciplinare); Florio calls it mistella and uses it to stop fermentation and keep the grape sugars
• Mosto cotto: must cooked over a direct flame for several hours (Cantine Florio); banned in Fine and Superiore oro and rubino, at least 1% in Fine and Superiore ambra (disciplinare)
• Vergine: no mosto cotto, concentrated must, or sifone (disciplinare); at Florio, Marsala Vergine is made from Vino Florio, alcohol, and time

The disciplinare pairs the Marsala name with legal qualifiers for minimum aging, colour, and sugar content. Minimum aging is one year for Fine, two years for Superiore, four years for Superiore Riserva, five years for Vergine or Soleras, and ten years for Vergine Stravecchio or Riserva. Under the disciplinare, the minimum aging period runs from the date on which the concia operations are completed, and the aging must take place in wooden vessels, preferably oak or cherry. The first four months of aging for Marsala Fine may take place in vessels of other materials. The colours are oro (gold), ambra (amber), and rubino (ruby, which takes on amber reflections with age). By sugar, secco has less than 40 g/l of reducing sugars, semisecco more than 40 g/l but less than 100 g/l, and dolce more than 100 g/l. A vintage on the label means the year of the last concia, and Marsala Vergine may be sold to consumers only in bottle. Italian Wine Central records the DOC as established in 1969.

• Fine: minimum 1 year of aging and 17.50% vol total alcohol; Superiore: minimum 2 years and 18.00% vol
• Superiore Riserva: minimum 4 years; Vergine or Soleras: minimum 5 years; Vergine Stravecchio or Riserva: minimum 10 years
• Sugar: secco under 40 g/l, semisecco over 40 g/l and under 100 g/l, dolce over 100 g/l of reducing sugars
• The vintage on a label is the year of the last concia; Vecchio may be used for Marsala with at least the minimum characteristics of Superiore

sherry.wine describes Sherry's criaderas and solera as a dynamic system in which wines from different stages of the ageing process are blended together. The butts are arranged in tiers by age: the oldest tier, the solera, sits at floor level, and the criaderas above it hold progressively younger wine. Periodically a proportion of the wine is drawn from each solera butt, an operation called the saca, and the space is topped up from the 1st criadera, which is topped up in turn from the 2nd, and so on up to the youngest scale; the topping up is called the rocío. Wine Spectator's account of in perpetuum follows the same logic of drawing from the longest-aged barrels and replenishing each from the next oldest, and both Wine Spectator and Marco De Bartoli describe in perpetuum as similar to the solera system. Where the two traditions part is alcohol: Decanter notes that the pre-British perpetuo wines are always unfortified and so fall outside the Marsala DOC, while the disciplinare reserves the Marsala name for fortified wines.

• Sherry: butts in tiers by age, with the solera at floor level and the criaderas above it (sherry.wine)
• Saca draws wine from the solera; rocío tops each tier up from the next younger one (sherry.wine)
• In perpetuum: wine drawn each year from the longest-aged barrels and replenished from the next oldest, down to new wine in the youngest barrel (Wine Spectator)
• Perpetuo wines are always unfortified and fall outside the Marsala DOC (Decanter); Marsala DOC is reserved for fortified wines (disciplinare)

Primary sources: https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Ff%252F0%252FD.68426dcece9fbe3891e0/P/BLOB%3AID%3D23293/E/pdf?mode=download, https://cantineflorio.it/marsala-florio/, https://www.marcodebartoli.com/samperi/, https://www.marcodebartoli.com/vini/vecchio-samperi/, https://www.marcodebartoli.com/vini/vecchio-samperi-quarantennale/, https://www.marcodebartoli.com/vini/marsala-superiore-riserva-2009/, https://www.carlopellegrino.it/en/marsala/, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/production/ageing. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/sicilian-wine-s-unfinished-poem, https://www.decanter.com/premium/modern-marsala-how-an-italian-classic-rediscovered-its-verve-and-attitude-568845/, https://italianwinecentral.com/denomination/marsala-doc/. Last verified 2026-09-25