Marsala Wine and Porto Wine, two Important Stories and two Great Wines in Comparison. The Current Market Situation and Opportunities

Abstract

Introduction Marsala wine is the oldest of the Sicilian wines and it takes its name from the little town where it is produced. It is one of the most famous fortified wines in the world thanks to its organoleptic qualities and its incredible versatility. Despite its ancient origin and its fame, which led this wine to be known all over the world, Marsala wine is for several years in a decline phase. Porto wine, has always been a true symbol of Portugal, is also very famous worldwide for centuries, it is obtained from different varieties of grapes grown in the Douro Valley and then it is aged in wooden barrels at the cellars of the Oporto City where it was then shipped to be exported all over the world. As the Marsala wine, also the Porto wine is a fortified and versatile wine, with its several varieties, depending on grapes, maturity and production technique used. Marsala and Porto are then two great wines with very similar stories and destinies, but they have now encountered (especially the Marsala wine) difficulties in holding a good position in the market, this is because of the “younger” sweet wines, their new strong competitors, passito wine, malvasia wine, sauterne, etc..