Fortified wine Madeira Islands. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert. Madeira is deliberately heated and oxidised as part of its maturation process, resulting in distinctive flavours and an unusually long lifespan once a bottle is opened. Marsala wine is a wine from Sicily that is available in both fortified and unfortified versions. It was first produced in 1772 by an English merchant, John Woodhouse, as an inexpensive substitute for sherry and port, and gets its name from
Italian cruiser Marsala Otranto Barrage—a patrol line of drifters intended to block Austro-Hungarian and German U-boats. "Marsala" was the only Italian cruiser with steam up in her boilers when word of the Austro-Hungarian attack reached Brindisi. The British cruisers and departed first, along with five Italian destroyers. "Marsala", the flotilla leader , and three destroyers followed thereafter. "Marsala" briefly engaged the fleeing Austro-Hungarians in the Battle of the Otranto Straits, before Acton broke off the pursuit and ordered a return to port. Following the end of the war in November 1918, the "Regia Marina" demobilized; severely reduced naval budgets—the result of a weakened