Marsala Petrosino, a village formerly part of Marsala, decided to become a self-governing town after a local referendum. The area of Marsala is classified as a seismic zone 2 (medium). In the last 200 years three earthquakes of medium-high intensity were recorded: Marsala has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: "Csa"), similar to most coastal towns in Sicily, with hot and dry summers coupled with moderately wet and mild winters. Weather in Marsala is similar to that of nearby Trapani. Summers are generally warm with a record maximum temperature of in August 2017. In the summer, due to how dry it is,
History of Portuguese wine foreign investments, which brought expansions and upgrades of winemaking technology and know how to Portugal. The Portuguese appellation system of "Denominação de Origem Controlada" (DOC) was also upgraded to be more in line with its French, Italian and Spanish counterparts. The rise of smaller boutique wineries or "quintas" has brought about a revolution in Portuguese wine making. Prior to this, non-fortified Portuguese wines were characterized as being "rustic" and "oxidized". Advancements in better winemaking techniques have allowed producers to make cleaner, softer wines that are more palatable to the international wine market. While historically the Portuguese wine industry was seemingly