ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Antichi Baronati
Antichi Baronati is produced by Rallo, a farm/winery founded by Diego Rallo in 1860 and owned since 1997 by the Vesco family. Today the winery owns around 90 hectares of land : 80 hectares of vineyards, the remaining being planted with wheat and olive trees, or left in its natural state.
Farming practices: certified organic.
The Marsala vineyards are largely planted to indigenous Sicilian white varieties including Cataratto, Grillo, Inzolia, and others in lesser amounts.
Marsala is fortified by halting the fermentation by the addition of brandy. It is then aged in a series of barrels through which the wine slowly migrates in what is referred to as the in perpetuum process, similar to a Sherry solera. The long, slow and gentle oxidation stabilizes the wines, making them useful for extended sea voyages. The final sweetness is determined by the addition of either unfermented grape juice or mosto cotto– caramelized cooked grape must, before final blending and bottling. Marsala is graded as Secco (<40g/l sugar at bottling, semisecco (40-100 g/l) and dolce (over 100 g/l).
The long, slow and gentle oxidation stabilizes the wines, making them useful for extended sea voyages.
Types & Grades
- 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, made from red grape varieties
- Fine is aged at least one year
- Superiore is aged at least two years
- Superiore Riserva is aged at least four years
- Vergine and/or Soleras is aged at least five years
- Vergine and/or Soleras Stravecchio and Vergine and/or Soleras Riserva is aged at least ten years
