Collection: Malvasia

Malvasia is an aromatic white grape variety with roots in the Mediterranean region. It is also known under the synonym Soubirat-Parent, and today it is grown in a wide range of styles. What they have in common is a fragrant character, where the grape contributes body and a touch of spice. With us you will find first and foremost Malvasia from Italy, and specifically from Toscana, where it forms part of the region's white wines.

Malvasia is a versatile grape that can produce both dry and sweet white wines. One of its more striking expressions is orange wine, where the grape is fermented with extended skin contact and thereby gains more texture, tannin and a deeper aromatic profile. The grape also has a long tradition as part of what is known as a field blend, that is, a vineyard with several varieties that are harvested and vinified together. Here it adds character and body to the finished wine.

Although you encounter it with us in an Italian wrapping, Malvasia also has a solid place in Spain, where it is part of the historic grape material. After the phylloxera attacks it was replanted and preserved as a local variety, and it is grown in Bierzo, Toro and Rioja, among other places. In Rioja it is often blended with Viura, while in sweet Spanish wines it may appear together with Verdejo, Palomino and Moscatel. Malvasia is moreover an authorised or permitted white variety in a number of appellations, including Navarra DO, Calatayud, Arribes, Tierra del Vino de Zamora as well as Costa de Cantabria IGP and 3 Riberas IGP. In DO Toro the white blends must consist of at least 85 percent approved white varieties, among which Malvasia belongs.

If you want to understand Malvasia, it helps to see it as a building block just as much as a soloist. It lends aroma, body and spice to dry, sweet and skin-fermented wines alike, and it often ties traditional white blends together. That makes it a variety worth exploring, whether you are fond of the dry and fresh or the sweet and full-bodied.