Intense gold with shades of amber, the Marsala Riserva Superiore is richer, more concentrated and elegant than the Fine. It has intense notes of toasted almond, cloves and cinnamon on the nose, with a full, velvety body. Complex dried fruit flavours carry through onto the long, smooth, and slightly spicy finish

About the Producer

Established in 1875 by Vito Curatolo Arini, the winery is now run by the fifth generation of the Curatolo family, making it the oldest family-owned Marsala producer. Alberto Antonini is the consultant winemaker and his influence is evident in the wines, combining the richness that Sicily can easily provide with the freshness only someone with Alberto’s experience can retain.

Thanks to the favourable climate in Sicily, consistency in quality can be assured from vintage to vintage.

The single-vineyard Zibibbo (the local name for Muscat of Alexandria) is grown in vineyards in the western part of Sicily, just inland from Marsala. It is dry and aromatic in style, pairing perfectly with food. The Nero d‘Avola grapes come from vineyards in central Sicily, in the province of Caltanissetta. The vineyards here are 500 metres above sea level, where the combination of warm days and cool nights helps produce premium, fruit-driven red wines.

The Inzolia is from also from vineyards around 500 meters above sea level but planted in the Chirchiaro area near Salemi. After destemming and crushing, the grapes are macerated for a few hours. They are then softly pressed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The wine spends a few weeks on the lees before bottling and as a result it is fresh and vibrant with beautiful aromatics and a very clear sense of place.

The Marsalas, still made in the traditional way, are true to tradition and make a great alternative to Sherry. The stunning art-deco label was designed by Ernesto Basile, a famous Palermo architect in the latter part of the 19th century. The Marsala Fine is an expressive dry style with delicious notes of dried citrus and toasted almonds. The Marsala Superiore uses base wines made from the native Sicilian grapes Grillo, Inzolia and Catarratto fortified with white grape spirit and aged for five years in cask. The Riserva is only made in the best vintages and undergoes a similar ageing process, resulting in a rich, aromatic and heady wine. The Marsala Vergine Riserva, similarly produced in only the best vintages, sees a longer ageing process that lasts almost 25 years. As a result of this, it has beautiful length and complexity.

Vineyard and Winery Notes

Grapes for this wine come from the coastal area of Marsala.  The special microclimate created by the cooling maritime breezes allows grapes to reach full ripeness with high levels of sugar but with balancing acidity that gives these wines their typical elegance and richness.

The local grapes were destemmed and transferred to stainless steel tanks for pre-fermentation maceration.  Fermentation took place in stainless steel vats at a controlled temperature of 20-25C° for one week, with frequent délestage.  The wine was fermented to dryness and remained in tank for a further seven days on the skins to maximise tannin extraction.  The wine was then fortified up to 18%, before it was racked to a mixture of Slavonian, French and American oak barriques and tonneaux for maturation, where it remained for 10 years