Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and Puglia's Malvasia Bianca are deliciously
musky and aromatic grapes that are wonderful
to eat, the wines made in Puglia are not very
aromatic (perhaps because of the warm cli-
mate, poor viticultural training systems, and
excessively high yields). The main redeeming
feature of Malvasia Bianca in the eyes of quan-
tity-minded Puglian wine producers is that it
produces large volumes of easy drinking, sim-
ple wines. Some experts believe that the
Malva-
sia
variety grown in Puglia is actually not that
different from Malvasia Bianca di Candia or
even Malvasia Bianca Lunga—but there is no
genetic evidence to support this view. Just to
add a little more confusion to this situation of
general uncertainty, many Puglian producers
have also chosen to plant Friuli Venezia Giulia's
Malvasia Istriana, but of course just call the
wine “malvasia.”
Malvasia Bianca's grape bunch is fairly com-
pact, medium-sized, and pyramidal-conical in
shape, with medium to large, usually round,
yellow-green berries that have very thick skins.
The latter feature explains the variety's resis-
tance to botrytis bunch rot: in this it has a huge
advantage over Moscato Bianco (which is how-
ever more resistant to oidium), another aro-
matic grape grown both in Piedmont and
Puglia that is much more botrytis sensitive.
There is one clone of Malvasia Bianca, MC-1,
available since 1990.
non-local variety, so these wines may not be
refl ective of the merits of Malvasia Bianca at all.
I also believe that some of the white
Malvasia
wines in Puglia may be made with Malvasia
Bianca Lunga, a completely different grape
from Malvasia Bianca.
wines to try:
Lomazzi & Sarli* (Imperium)
and Conti Zecca* (Leverano Bianco Vigna del
Saraceno and Terra). These both have a creamy
texture and ripe tropical fruit fl avors that are
not usually associated with this variety, so I'm
not sure what to think. Furthermore, both are
only barely aromatic. That said, these wines are
pretty good. Most likely, the encouraging
results are due to lower yields and greater pro-
tection of the grape aromas and fl avors during
winemaking.
Malvasia Bianca di Basilicata
where it's found:
Basilicata.
national reg-
istry code number:
130.
color:
white.
In my personal gallery of native variety woes
is the relative oblivion this very high-quality
variety has fallen into over the last fi fty years.
Veronelli (1971) loved it (he often called it Mal-
vasia del Vulture), and suggested pairing it
with provolone cheese and even with octopus in
chili-spiced tomato sauce.
Malvasia Bianca di Basilicata was once a
very important cultivar in the Vulture area of
the region, and it is therefore an error to con-
sider Basilicata as a producer of only red wine.
Historically, white
Malvasia
wines were made
with grapes grown in many vineyards located
above 500 meters of elevation, especially those
on the mountain slopes past the Potenza-Fog-
gia railway tracks. Over the years, during my
walks on the rugged terrain of the Vulture vol-
cano, it was obvious to me that the white
Malva-
sia
growing there was unlike any other I had
seen. Not only did it look different (with its very
long, scrawny bunch and smaller than average
berries, it looks a little like Malvasia di Lipari),
but the wine made by local farmers from it was
different as well, spicily aromatic and complex.
Which Wines to Choose and Why
Over the last fi fteen years, quality-conscious
Puglian producers have lowered yields, and the
resulting wines appear to hold some promise.
The best wines are those of the DOC Leverano
(where 100 percent pure bottlings of Malvasia
Bianca can be found), but there are IGT wines
that can also be, should the producer so choose,
100 percent Malvasia Bianca. The variety is also
included in DOC blends of Calabria, Campa-
nia, and Sicily, though it is almost never the
main player. As many southern Italian produc-
ers have planted Friuli's Malvasia Istriana in
their vineyards, some (many?)
Malvasia
wines
from Italy's south might be made with that
