Marsala Secco Riserva Superiore, Curatolo

Posted by Andrew Chapman in Wine Tasting Notes, 10:39am 12/01/2008. Leave a comment

A fairly quiet Saturday in the Chapman household...makes a nice change!

Alison's just putting supper on and I peer into the fridge to see what there is to drink. Darn it, I forgot to bring anything home from the warehouse! Then I spot a bottle I brought home last weekend after opening it for a customer to try...

Marsala Secco Riserva Superiore from Curatolo (who make the lovely and excellent value Villa Tonino wines from our list) is a very interesting drink.

Until I tasted this wine a few years ago I, like most people I imagine, thought of Marsala wines only in connection with the kitchen - mostly in connection with the Italian dessertZabaglione, although I must also mention Alison's delicious version of Saltimbocca alla Romana - it was the first meal Alison ever cooked for me!

Anyway, I digress... The Curatolo family have been producing Marsala for well over a century. Indeed they are the oldest Marsala house still in family ownership

Marsala is a unique wine made only in Western Sicily. The Curatolo Marsala uses Catarrato and Grillo grapes, which are then vinified in oak, which helps give the wine its colour, and contributes to the deliberately oxidised style - somewhere between sherry and Madeira.

It's a 'nutty' wine in every sense of the word... hints of almonds and walnuts on nose and palate are very evident... but it's nuts too in that there isn't anything else I've tasted quite like it. Yes, it is oxidised - but still manages to be fruity. Warm and rich - but still quite delicate too. Creamy too... like some sort of nuts and cream dessert - but not sweet - bone dry. Very nice acidity too - making it an excellent aperitif.

Funnily enough, if it wasn't for the 18% alcohol making it a tad over-the-top for drinking more than a glass or so of (unless you want to be squiffy pretty quickly!), it would be a brilliant wine to go with chicken. Roast chicken would be perfect with this (always free range chicken in this house, but I'd have been converted if I wasn't already by this week's C4 progs: Jamie Oliver's 'Fowl Dinners' and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Chicken Run' - trying to convert as many people to free-range chicken is a campaign worth making interesting TV for), but chicken and a creamy sauce could work too: maybe chicken in Tarragon, as the Marsala has a slightly smoky hint that would work well with the Tarragon, and has enough acidity to cut through the cream.

Right now it is lovely to sip while typing this blog... I might go and pinch some Cheddar to nibble on - I think that might work great with this wine too - while the most amazing selection of veggies are roasting in the oven. Roast veg with Feta and Halloumi cheese tonight - yum!

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