Grape Groups and Families - Native Wine Grapes of Italy - page 64

by the Istituto A. Zanelli in cooperation with
the Cantina di Arceto. The institute is a poly-
technical teaching facility with a large grape-
vine collection of old local varieties that I have
had the pleasure of visiting many times. Every-
one on staff there is unfailingly kind and help-
ful, and I cannot begin to say just how much I
have learned on my visits there. Migliolungo is
made from forty different rare native varieties,
of which fi fteen are Lambrusco s.

All this confusion arises because through-
out history, Malvasia wines were famous and
sought after. Their popularity was largely the
result of Venice's domination of the Mediterra-
nean sea and its trading routes—which essen-
tially lasted from the eighth to the fi fteenth
centuries, so Malvasia s benefi ted from some
pretty good promotion. Malvasia wines became
so important throughout the ages that there are
at least sixteen different sites I know of in Ven-
ice sporting the Malvasia moniker: the next
time you take a walk in the world's most beauti-
ful city, you'll fi nd there's more than one street
called Calle della Malvasia (for example, one in
Sestriere Dorsoduro and one in Sestriere Cas-
tello, the latter not far from St. Mark's Square),
a bridge called Ponte della Malvasia Vecchia,
and a dock dubbed Fondamenta della Malvasia .
Venetian wine bars were also called malvasie.
You couldn't be blamed for thinking the city
had a malvasia fetish, but it was, after all, the
seafaring Venetians who broadcast the reputa-
tion of this variety and its wines. Between 1300
and 1600, malvasia was undoubtedly Europe's
most famous wine, a direct descendant of
famous wines of antiquity such as capnios, thar-
rupia, and buconiates.
Though there are other hypotheses, the pre-
vailing opinion is that the name Malvasia
derives from Monemvasia or Monemvaxia (it
means “port with one entry”), a strategically
located seaside town located in the Peloponne-
sian peninsula. Founded in 588, it was con-
quered by William de Villehardouin with help
from the Venetians in 1248 and was annexed to
the Venetian Maritime Republic in 1419. Mo-
nemvaxia was an important trading hub for
malvasia and other wines of the Greek islands,
and these were sold all over Europe—so suc-
cessfully in fact that demand far outstripped
supply, forcing Venetians to plant Malvasia
vines on Crete, which had been under Venetian
rule since 1204, after the Fourth Crusade.
Throughout the centuries, Crete was a very
important source of Malvasia wine production.
Pillon (2005) mentions an offi cial document of
the Venetian government (dated 1342) in which

Lambrusco a Foglia Frastagliata

See ENANTIO , chapter 4.

Lambrusco a Foglia Tonda

See CASETTA , chapter 4.

Lambrusco dei Vivi

See PERLA DEI VIVI , chapter 5.

Lambrusco Pjcol Ross

See TERRANO , chapter 4.

THE MALVASIA GROUP

Malvasia is my favorite group of wine grapes:
simply put, I like them all, as well as the wines
made from them. Though the Malvasia s are
often referred to as a family of grapes, that is
incorrect, as many Malvasia-Something grapes
are genetically distinct. Still, some Malvasia
members are related to a degree, and thus the
Malvasia s (some of them, at least) are closer to
being a family than the Greco s or the Vernac-
cia s. In Italy alone there are eighteen offi cial
varieties named Malvasia (listed as such in the
National Registry) and almost as many wines;
the latter are just as complicated as the grapes,
since some are red wines, some white (and one
pink); some dry, some sweet; some are still and
some are bubbly. When buying a bottle of Mal-
vasia wine, knowing what the individual grape
variety offers is your best bet for happiness.