MARSALA IN COOKING

Marsala wine is frequently used in cooking, and is especially prevalent in Italian restaurants in the United States. A typical Marsala sauce, for example, involves reducing the wine almost to a syrup with onions or shallots, then adding mushrooms and herbs. One of the most popular Marsala recipes is Chicken Marsala, in which flour-coated pounded chicken breast halves are braised in a mixture of Marsala, butter, olive oil, mushrooms, and spices. Marsala is also used in some risotto recipes, and is used to produce rich Italian desserts such as zabaglione,tiramisu and shortcake.

CHARACTERSTICS & TYPES

Marsala is produced using the Grillo, Inzolia, and Catarratto white grape varietals, among others. Marsala wine was traditionally served as an aperitif between the first and second courses of a meal. Contemporary diners will serve chilled with Parmesan (stravecchio), Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and other spicy cheeses, with fruits or pastries, or at room temperature as a dessert wine. Marsala is sometimes discussed with another Sicilian wine, Passito di Pantelleria (Pantelleria Island's raisin wine).

Different Marsala wines are classified according to their color, sweetness and the duration of their aging. The three levels of sweetness are secco (with a maximum 40 grams of residual sugar per liter), semisecco' (41-100 g/l) and sweet (over 100 g/l). The color and aging classifications are as follows:

Oro has a golden color.

Ambra has an amber color. The coloring comes from the mosto cotto sweetener added to the wine.

Rubino has a ruby color.

Fine has minimal aging, typically less than a year.

Superiore is aged at least two years.

Superiore Riserva is aged at least four years.

Vergine e/o Soleras is aged at least five years.

Vergine e/o Soleras Stravecchio e Vergine e/o Soleras Riserva is aged at least ten years. 

MARSALA

Marsala is a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala wine first received Denominazione di origine controllata, or DOC, status in 1969.

While the city's natives sometimes drink "vintage" Marsala, the wine produced for export is universally a fortified wine similar to Port. Originally, Marsala wine was fortified with alcohol to ensure that it would last long ocean voyages, but now it is made that way because of its popularity in foreign markets. 

SHERRY LABEL

STYLES FO SHERRY

# Fino ('fine' in Spanish) is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of Sherry. The wine is aged in barrels under a cap of flor yeast to prevent contact with the air.

# Manzanilla is an especially light variety of fino Sherry made around the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

# Amontillado is a variety of Sherry that is first aged under flor but which is then exposed to oxygen, producing a sherry that is darker than a fino but lighter than an oloroso. Naturally dry, they are sometimes sold lightly sweetened.

# Oloroso ('scented' in Spanish) is a variety of Sherry aged oxidatively for a longer time than a fino or amontillado, producing a darker and richer wine. With alcohol levels between 18-20%, olorosos are the most alcoholic sherries in the bottle. Again naturally dry, they are often also sold in sweetened versions.

# Palo Cortado is a rare variety of Sherry that is initially aged like an amontillado, but which subsequently develops a character closer to an oloroso.

# Sweet Sherries (Jerez Dulce in Spanish) are made either by fermenting dried Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes, which produces an intensely sweet dark brown or black wine, or by blending sweeter wines or grape must with a drier variety. Cream Sherry is a common type of sweet Sherry made by blending different wines

PRODUCTION FO SHERRY

PRODUCTION OF SHERRY:

1.Pressing

2.Acidification

3.Settling (debourbage)

4.Fermentation

5.Classification (Fino/olorosso)

6.Fortification (fino-15% / olorosso-18%)

7.Aging Finos: Biological Aging

Olorosso: Physio-chemical Aging

Solera

9.Working on the scales

10.Blending

11.Finishing: addition of sweetener

THE AGING OF SHERRY

The aging of sherry takes place in one of two ways:

v BIOLOGICAL AGING: The sherry ages in contact with a film of yeast (Flor) that changes the characterstics of the wine be metabolising elements within the wine and controlling the rate of oxidation.

v PHYSIO-CHEMICAL AGING: The sherry is in direct contact with air and its immediate oxidising effects.