CARLALBERTO ANSELMI
Around 1880, Carlalberto Anselmi built his wine producing facilities on the Capo Boeo strip, where other wineries were already based and where the future railway was supposed to be built before the plan was changed.
The winery was fitted with the latest equipment and made using the most modern systems; its buildings were positioned against the high wall that surrounded the entire property and opened onto a large quadrangular courtyard. The large storage facilities in which the wine was aged ran along two sides; at the end there was a mechanical workshop where the barrels were made and a distilling apparatus (Derosné-Gill system) to distil pure alcohol.
Following Carlalberto Anselmi’s death, the company was managed by his sons Ludovico and Carmelo, who lived on the premises to have better control over its activities. The brothers further expanded the business reaching foreign markets and their establishment became one of the most prominent in Marsala.
The winery received numerous awards and medals of honour for the quality of its wines and in 1892 it became the supplier of the Royal Family.
Today, the company no longer exists; its premises were abandoned for years during a legal battle until they were bought and transformed into the Regional Archaeological Museum in 1986.
GIUSEPPE LOMBARDO MALTESE
Initially, Giuseppe Lombardo Maltese was a ship owner who transported “Marsala” wine to various countries on the Mediterranean coasts.
Supported by his strong knowledge of the markets, in 1881 he started a small winery, “G. Lombardo Maltese”, and built his storage facilities on the seafront. At the same time, he bought some land on which he started growing vines to produce “Marsala” wine using his own technique. When he died in 1911, Orazio, the youngest of his children, took over his work developing and expanding the company and changing its name to “Fratelli Lombardo fu Giuseppe & C.”. Orazio modernised the business while respecting traditions and conquered new important markets turning the winery into one of the most successful in Marsala.
The winery was later managed by Orazio’s son Giuseppe, who had previously joined the business and who successfully followed in his grandfather and father’s steps modernising it even further.
His own children, Orazio and Ermelinda continued the family tradition upholding the good name and the quality of “Marsala” wine. These are some of their products: “Vergine Soleras” (1988, awarded the Diploma and Medal for Great Merit); “Superiore Secco”; “Fine Ruby”; “Superiore Secco and Dolce”; “Ambra Dry and Ambra Sweet”.
The “Marsala Vergine Soleras Doc, Riserva del Centenario” received a Special Mention at Vinitaly Wine Contest (1995).