Marsala wine Marsala wine Marsala is a wine, dry or sweet, produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala first received "Denominazione di Origine Controllata" (DOC) status in 1969. The DOC status is equivalent to PDO: most countries limit the use of the term "Marsala" to those wines that come from the Marsala area, to which the European Union grants Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. While the city's natives sometimes drink "vintage" Marsala, the wine produced for export is universally fortified similar to Port, Madeira and Sherry. Originally, this addition of alcohol was to ensure that
Italian cruiser Marsala at a cruising speed of . "Marsala" was armed with a main battery of six L/50 guns mounted singly. She was also equipped with six L/50 guns and two torpedo tubes. The ship was only lightly armored, with a thick deck, and thick plating on her main conning tower. "Marsala"s keel was laid down at the Castellammare shipyard on 15 February 1911, the same day as "Nino Bixio". Work on "Marsala" proceeded slower than on her sister, and she was launched on 24 March 1912, where she was named for the city where Giuseppe Garibaldi launched the Expedition of the