2004 Marco de Bartoli Marsala Superiore Oro Riserva, 500ml

Marco De Bartoli’s estate is near Marsala, in western Sicily. Like his father before him, De Bartoli’s life has been centered around winemaking with traditional Sicilian grapes. The native white grape Grillo is the grape that has traditionally been used for the fortified wine called Marsala, though innovative producers such as Marco De Bartoli are also now making 100% Grillo table wines, which are dry white wines noted for citrus, apple and pineapple notes. In Sicily, Grillo is frequently paired with strong-tasting seafood, such as anchovies. The estate also makes Marsala, and a red table wine made of 100% Pignatello, a traditional Western Sicilian grape. The estate also makes sparkling wines and several “passito” style wines, meaning wines made with grapes that are sun dried before they are crushed, giving the resulting wines a rich, raisiny character. An interesting note is that the name of the passito wine Bukkuram means "father of the vineyard" in ancient Arabic. Bukkuram was also the name of the region where De Bartoli farms grapes for his Bukkuram wines. Bukkuram wines are made with Zibibbo grapes, another Sicilian native.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, and, with its 329,000 vineyard acres, Italy’s largest wine region by acreage and the quantity of wine produced. Nevertheless, only 2.1% of all Sicilian wine is DOC, or wine made according to appellation standards. Until the 1970s Sicilian wine grapes either went to make Marsala, the sweet dessert wine introduced by 18th century British wine merchants, or to cooperatives that specialized in bulk wine production. But in 1968 Sicily was awarded its first DOC, which was the Etna DOC on the southern slopes of Mt. Etna, and today there are 19 DOCs. Along with the Maremma on Tuscany’s western coast, Sicily is considered the most exciting winemaking region in Italy. Longtime family agricultural estates are being turned into high quality commercial wineries, and because land prices are low compared to other parts of Italy, enterprising young winemakers and viticulturalists – many of whom practice organic and sustainable farming – have started wineries in Sicily. Marsala is still produced, and the Marsala business is one reason why 60% of Sicily’s vineyards are planted to Catarratto, the white grape used as a base for Marsala. But dry white wines are made from Inzolia, Malvasia, Zibbio and Chardonnay. But it is Sicily’s big, complex red wines that are grabbing the attention of wine enthusiasts. Nero d’Avola is Sicily’s most common red grape, and it produces rich, somewhat spicy wines. Other red grapes are Nerello Mascalese, Frappato and French varietals.