Malvoisie?

Richard Kovach wrote:

They aren't Pinot, but a varietal all their own...

Malvasia [mal-VAH-zha; mal-VAH-zha] Grape that has existed for about 2,000 years. It's believed to have come from the area around the Aegean Sea, possibly from what is now the southwestern area of Turkey and the islands between Turkey and Greece. Malvasia is primarily a white-wine grape, but it has many known subvarieties, including a red version called Malvasia Nera. The red grape is chiefly grown in Italy-around Piedmont in the north and Puglia in the south. It produces very perfumy wines and lends a delightful fragrance to some Italian red wines. The white variations are better known, the most recognized strains being Malvasia Bianca del Chianti, Malvasia del Lazio, Malvasia delle Lipari, Malvasia di Candia, Malvasia di Sardegna and Malvasia Istiana (or Malvasia Friulana). These white varieties are grown all around the Mediterranean in one form or another. They produce golden, perfumy, flavorful wines with hints of apricots, musk, and almonds. Unfortunately, Malvasia is not an extremely high-yielding vine and is being replaced by better-producing but less-flavorful grapes such as trebbiano in Italy and Viura (macabeo) in Spain. Malvasia is made into a variety of finished wines-dry, sweet, fortified, and sparkling, but probably is best known for its sweet fortified products. On the island of madeira, the Malvasia variety is called Malmsey and is combined with tinta negra mole and verdelho. The sweetest and richest style of Madeira wine is also often referred to as malmsey. In Portugal some port makers use Malvasia grapes in their white port. The vermentino grape, grown on corsica and sardinia, is thought to be related to Malvasia as well. Malvasia Bianca is also grown in California, mostly in the central valley, and is used primarily in sweet fortified wines. Malvasia is also called Blanca-Roja, Früher Roter Malvasier, and Malvoisie, as well as a host of other names beginning with "Malvasia." from:

Richard, Charles has provided an excellent and comprehensive description of Malvasia. I had a bottle of dessert wine with white Malvasia grown in the Marsala Region of Sicily and it was truly a God's Nectar. Locally, some importers bring it from California hoping to please some of their Italian customers who are used the Black Malvasia, mainly from Puglia. But they won't be fooled!

The white Malvasia we get from California should not be compared to the 'real' one, but it's still a nice grape. I tried it a few years back and it produced a pleasant wine, much comparable to the flavour of Moscato, but IMO a little more elegant, weaker, and less 'flowery'. Most local Italians cannot tell it from Moscato, and many others cannot tell it from other varieties. I would not get the red Malvasia.

Happy winemaking - Giovanni.

Dang, you make me want some!

Ray

IIRC, Malvasia and Malvoisie are not the same thing.

vince norris

Vincent, it appears that they ARE the same thing! One is the Italian name, and the other is the French rendition.

Malvasia is also called Blanca-Roja (Spanish), Früher Roter Malvasier (German), as well as a host of other names beginning with "Malvasia." See:

In the link I posted, and the part I quoted, they discuss that! :^)

I thought I remembered where I had read that they are not the same, and sure enough, I found it in Allan Sichel's _Penquin Book of Wines_. Discussing the wines of Switzerland on page 233, he says,

"There is also a sweet white wine known as 'Malvoisie'-- presumably because it is made from the Pinot Gris-- a grape known also as the Tokay d'Alsace--and similar in properties to the Malvasia grape that makes sweet wines in Madiera, Greece, Cyprus and Italy."

Seems to me the expression "similar in properties" necessarily means they are not the same grape. It would be nonsensical to say that a grape is "similar in properties" to itself.

vince norris

It comes down to whom do we wish to believe: The Epicure's Dictionary, or the Penguin Book of Wines. This isn't the first time that two authoritive sources contradict one another. Anyone got a coin to flip? :)

It may also be that Malvoisie is the French name for Malvasia AND for a similar varietal. It won't be the first time that sort of situation has occured either.

I think that last paragraph has it right. According to Janics Robinson, in _Wines, Grapes, and Vines_, sometimes Malvasia is a synomyn for Malvasia, and sometimes it isn't.

Malvoisie is what Americans call Pinot Gris, but the French sometimes use that term for Malvasia, which is NOT what we call Pinot Gris.

Dave

ARGH! That sould read, "Sometimes Malvasia is a synonym for Malvoisie, and sometimes it isn't."

-- Dave

I believe that "Black Malvoise" is the French cinsault. We have grown it here in the Rio Grande Valley since the late 1800's. No doubt introduced by the French settlers who followed Bishop Lamy when the Pope replaced the Franciscans who accompanied Coronado

I would not for a moment insist my source is better than yours. I happen to own a copy of Sichel's book but not a copy of The Epicure's Dictionary, that's all.

vince norris

I don't know which is better, either. Epicure's is internet-accessible, which is the only reason I used it. :)

As I suggested, and someone else subsequently verified, both sources appear to be correct: the term Malvoise is applied to both Malvasia grapes, and another varietal.

BLACK MALVOISIE: Variety reportedly used for red wine production in California. Tentatively; may be (or related to) the Malvoisie (Noir) variety grown in Corsica. (No other details as yet.) This from the "WINEGRAPE GLOSSERY" found on the web

Winkler calls Black Malvoise- Hermitage. Jansis Robinson says that in South Africa - Cinsault is called Hermitage.