VINCENZO FLORIO
Born in Bagnara Calabra (Calabria) on 4 April 1799, Vincenzo Florio later moved with his family and his uncle Ignazio to Palermo (Sicily) where they took over a store trading and selling spices. Following the death of his father (1807) and, in 1828, of his uncle Ignazio (the administrator of his estate), Vincenzo Florio became a very wealthy man. Having heard of the excellent profits that were made exporting “Marsala” wine to foreign markets, in 1833 he decided to invest in the Marsala area and through his cousin R. Barbaro he bought a stretch of land south of the town, between the Woodhouse and the Ingham wineries, who were already successfully producing and exporting “Madera-style wine”.
In the same year, he set up the company with the brand “Florio e C.” together with R. Barbaro, in order to “build a factory to produce national Madera-style wines…” and appointed architect G.B.F. Basile to design and build modern and efficient wine making facilities.
The presence of the Florio family in Marsala and their investment in wine making is testament to the direct connection between the innovations set in motion by the British families in Sicily and the rise of local entrepreneurs like Vincenzo Florio, who was the first Italian producer of “Marsala” wine. To produce “Marsala” wine with similar methods to those used in Spain and Portugal he used grapes with high levels of sugar and secured harvests by paying farmers an advance. The business was so successful, that in 1839 he extended his production facilities.
As Sicily didn’t have a regular maritime connection with mainland Italy, in 1840, encouraged by B. Ingham, he started a steamboat company, “Società dei battelli a vapore Siciliani”, with considerable profit. In 1853, the production of “Marsala” wine had reached 6,900 barrels per year, of which 23% were produced by Florio, 19% by Woodhouse, and 58% by Ingham & Whitaker. Under Vincenzo’s leadership, in addition to wine making, “Casa Florio” had business interests also in other industries: navigation, manufacturing, sulphur extraction and refinement, steel, and fishing. Vincenzo Florio took “Marsala” wine all around the world on board the 99 ships of his fleet, “Compagnia Florio”, projecting a productive image of the town and inspiring a new class of entrepreneurs that was very different from the business men of the old Sicilian feudal world. For the prestige and success acquired, on 13 May 1864, he was made a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy and remained in office until his death on 11 September 1868.