Sitting on a cloud sipping
Marsala wine
Marsala wine was originally a British invention. But it still sums up the taste and mystery of Western Sicily.
Western Sicily holds a charmed mystery to me best captured by the flavours and fragrances of the natural abundance of the earth and the sea. This is an agricultural region where vines, olive trees, wheat and cotton fields dominate the cultivated land, while coast provides salt, tuna and mackerel for consumers around the world. Still, it is a British invention that sums up the place.
View from the cable car between Trapani and Erice.
Sitting on the mountain top in Erice sipping Marsala you can almost taste the view. A short cable ride downhill, Trapani spreads out like a sickle and in the distance you can glimpse the Egadi Islands, Tunisia and Africa. Marsala wine has a complex, earthy flavour with hints orange flowers, chili and wild herbs. There’s a clear umami element leading out to sea like a shoal of anchovies. And without being an expert I at least pretend to detect a note of the local sea salt.
A British Invention
Yet Marsala wine is not the result of ancient traditions. It’s a relatively new creation based on a mixture of grapes like the white Grillo variety, which main virtue is an ability to withstand high temperatures.
In the late 18th century British merchant ships visited Western Sicily to trade for soda ash presumably used for glass making. One of these traders, a John Woodhouse, acquired a taste for the local wines and had it mixed with brandy to prepare it for the sea voyage back to England, where it was sold under the name of the shipping port as an alternative to sherry and Madeira.
The breakthrough came in 1800, when Admiral Nelson made a written order for 500 casks of Marsala wine for the English fleet that was stationed on Malta in the Mediterranean. Five years later, Nelson and the English fleet won the giant battle of Trafalgar, and from then on the Sicilian wines became generally known as Marsala victory wine.
One of the few cafes in Erice – without a view.[/caption]
Visit an old wine baglio
Soon several Englishmen and a few Italians founded wine businesses in western Sicily. The wines were kept in fortified warehouses, called a baglio, where new wine was added to existing wines and stored in huge wooden containers. In consequence, the original Marsala wines varied greatly in character and strenght.
Today the production and taste of Marsala has been refined and streamline into a delicate fortified wine and a great addition to a number of Sicilian dishes. And you can still visit an old wine baglio at the sea front in Marsala. But now it has been converted to an Archeological museum. That way Marsala can still be traced as a likeable mystery and mixture of tastes.
You really grabbed my attention by the title and did not disappoint with your description of interesting Trapani and Marsala wine. Very nice.
Beautiful… my mum is from Trapani, so I know the area very well… so many memories! Thank you for sharing this!
#marsala. You brought back many good memories. The smell … mmmm Have to buy a bottle (or 2) soon. Thanks for the reminder.
Why did you not add a picture of Marsala and/ or point of view from Erice to your post?
You’re right. I should have added a photo of Marsala, but my shots don’t really do justice to the town or the view, and I hadn’t thought to search for it on Creative Commons. Must make amends:)
Really enjoyed learning Marsala’s history. I wonder how many wineries are still British owned and operated. Thanks for the article!
The title of this post sucked me in, but what I loved even more was your description of your view and the taste of Marsala.
I love the connection between what you are eating and where you are sitting. Either can change everything about an experience. Thank you for your lovely words.
I’ve actually been considering a visit to Western Sicily (partly because, somewhat strangely, there are direct flights to Trapani), and I now have even better cause.
I never knew Marsala was anything to do with the British. We’re itching to go to Sicily now after watching a detective drama from there that’s being shown on the BBC at the moment. It looks so beautiful.
Julia
Well, Britons have a lot to answer for;) And Sicily is at least as beautiful as seen in the Montalbano series – and not unlike southern Turkey.
Looks like I have a new wine to discover :-)
I love Marsala, but had no idea that it had such a fascinating history.
Oh you tempt me with all your photos. I really want to get down to Southern Italy soon, I had plans for it before coming back to Canada at the last minute. I guess there is always next year…
Italy sounds amazing right about now!
This is such a great article. I remember getting lost driving around here. Rather than being a stressful experience it turned out to be a great way to see the scenery. It would be great to be there today!
Sounds great. I love such stories about the serendipity of traveling.