Marsala fortified wine was probably first popularized outside Sicily by the English trader John Woodhouse. In 1773, he landed at the port of Marsala and discovered the local wine produced in the region, which was aged in wooden casks and tasted similar to Spanish and Portuguese fortified wines then popular in England. Fortified Marsala was, and is, made using a process called in perpetuum, which is similar to the solera system used to produce Sherry in Jerez, Spain.
Woodhouse recognized that the in perpetuum process raised the alcohol level and alcoholic taste of this wine while also preserving these characteristics during long-distance sea travel. Woodhouse further believed that fortified Marsala would be popular in England. Marsala indeed proved so successful that Woodhouse returned to Sicily and, in 1796, began its mass production and commercialization. In 1806, it was Benjamin Ingham (1784–1861), arriving in Sicily from Leeds, who opened new markets for Marsala in Europe and the Americas. Founded by Benjamin Ingham and later run by Joseph Whitaker and William Ingham Whitaker of the Whitaker family. Joseph and his brother William Ingham Whitaker inherited vast vineyards and his great grandfather Ingham's banking empire. William Ingham Whitaker’s was married to Hon. Hilda Guilhermina Dundas, who was the daughter to Charles Saunders Melville Dundas, 6th Viscount Melville. William and Hilda had two children and left his fortune and estate Pylewell Park to his eldest daughter Lady Elspeth Grace Whitaker, 6th Marchioness of Northampton. Today, the current Baron Teynham, John Christopher Ingham Roper-Curzon lives in Pylewell Park with his family.
Florio purchased Woodhouse's firm, among others, in the late nineteenth century and consolidated the Marsala wine industry. Florio and Pellegrino remain the leading producers of Marsala today.
Zibibbo is one of the rarest grapes in the world with a triple attitude: it is a wine grape, a table grape and a raisin grape. Its extraordinary adaptability is the main reason for a long history that dates back 5.000 years.
The scientific name of Zibibbo is Muscat of Alexandria: the name itself suggests that this grape variety was cultivated in ancient Egypt, either after being imported there or indigenously developed from trade contacts between the populations of the Fertile Crescent area.
Archaeological evidence suggests that winemaking existed during the Egypt’s first dynasty (3000-2890 B.C.) and greatly developed throughout time, as this beautiful picture found in the Tomb of Kakht at Thebes demonstrates.
The legend says that the Zibibbo was the grape that easier than others survived the Arabic domination: the Sicilian Arabs had the right to grow this vine for making raisins to enrich their super tasty culinary preparations, but did not disdain to make and drink good wine.
This grape grows today not only in Sicily, but also in different European Countries as well as in South Africa, California, Australia, and South America, with over 200 synonyms registered.
The most part of the Sicilian Zibibbo is cultivated in the province of Trapani. Pantelleria, a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean, has become part of the UNESCO World Heritage for the traditional viticulture methods still used for the vines’ training.
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