2004 Marco de Bartoli Marsala Superiore Oro Riserva

MARCO DI BARTOLI: SICILY'S 8TH WONDER & AMBROSIA IN A BOTTLEIf you interviewed a dozen seasoned sommeliers, my intuition tells me that most would tell you that Marsala was a Sicilian wine used for cooking Italian staple recipes. Yet only a century ago, there were more than a hundred wineries shipping quality Marsala out of Sicily's ports, much of it consumed by the same fine-heeled English folk who loved Port. By the 1960s however, most of the wineries had turned to more industrial production, using food coloring and cooked grape must to give the illusion of slow natural oxidation in barrel. You've likely enjoyed this staple at your local Olive Garden. There's one last twist in this story. The late Marco De Bartoli, one of Italy's most heralded vintners, emerged as a stalwart guardian of Italy's storied Marsala wine-making traditions, single-handedly preserving its artisanal essence. He has revived old vineyards, refusing to plant anything but native grape varieties. The nectars cr