The colour is medium gold. On the nose dry fruits under spirit, toasted hazelnuts and honey. In the mouth smooth, dry and tasty. The aftertaste is slightly bitter and last for quite a while.
Marsala is a fortified wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala is made using a process called in perpetuum, which is similar to the solera system used to produce Sherry in Jerez, Spain.
The Marsala wine style is generally accepted to have been created by English wine merchant John Woodhouse, who specialized in Port, Sherry and Madeira distribution and came to Marsala in 1773.
Marsala is produced using mainly the Grillo, Inzolia and Catarratto white grape varieties.
The three levels of sweetness are secco/dry (with a maximum 40 grams of residual sugar per liter), semisecco (41–100 g/L) and sweet (over 100 g/L).
The colour classification is as follows: Oro (has a golden colour); Ambra (has an amber colour that comes from the mosto cotto/cooked must sweetener added to the wine); Rubino (has a ruby colour, when red grape varieties such as Nero d’Avola and Nerello Mascalese are used).
The ageing classification is as follows: Fine (at least one year); Superiore (at least two years); Superiore Riserva (at least four years); Vergine and/or Soleras (aged at least five years); Vergine and/or Soleras Stravecchio or Riserva (aged at least ten years).
Baglio Florio is made with 100% Grillo grapes, matures for more than 10 years and contains just a few grams of sugar per litre.
Florio Winery was founded in 1833 and remains to these days a major producer of Marsala wines.
I bought this 50cl bottle for 35 EUR when I visited the Florio Winery in Marsala during last year eastern holidays.
Country: Italy
Region: Sicily
Grapes: Grillo
Type: Fortified wine
Vintage: 2003
Producer: Florio
Price range: Extra (50-100 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5