Index
1- Malvasía
2- Clusters
Malvasia has clusters of medium to large size, elongated with a pyramidal shape, very winged, of medium to high compactness. With a very short and green peduncle. Fairly uniform in berry size and coloration.
Berries
Medium to small in size, spherical in section, very slightly elliptical in profile. With little homogeneity.
Very fine green skin with a tendency to golden yellow tones, with a lot of bloom. Navel very marked.
Unpigmented pulp, soft, very juicy, with a very sweet and aromatic flavor.
3- Strains:
Highly vigorous with a lying or semi-erect bearing. Very early blooming, early ripening and ripening.
Low fertility and not very productive.
4- Agronomic characteristics and adaptation to the viticultural environment
- With good resistance to winter cold but sensitive to spring frosts.
- Low resistance to drought.
- Medium sensitivity to drying of the scrape.
- With high sensitivity to waterlogging of the soil and high humidity.
- Requires loose filtering soils.
- Suitable for mild climates.
- Very sensitive to mildew.
- Medium to high sensitivity to powdery mildew.
- Very sensitive to botrytis.
- Sensitive to acid rot.
- Very sensitive to mites.
- Sensitive to leafhoppers.
- Highly sensitive to cluster moths.
5- Winemaking potential of malvasia
With aromatic, golden musts, with a slight bitter taste, oxidizable, highly acidic and with a high sugar content.
Suitable for smooth still white wines.
Able to give soft liquor and sweet wines, with a lot of dry extract.
It originates very aromatic young varietals.
It can be used in sparkling wines that are very aromatic and interesting.
6- La Malvasía and its synonyms in Spain
Malvasía is the name used to designate different varieties of vine that have been cultivated in Spain since ancient times.
In many cases it corresponds to the pattern of an aromatic variety, sweet and with a muscat flavor, but in others, it is nothing more than a name that does not ensure these characteristics.
Many are the hypotheses that link this variety with its ancestral cultivation in Spain, but few are the reliable data that are collected in the bibliography.
It is not a recent mistake to call other varieties Malvasía; Abela (1885) already described it in his work:
“The Rovasenda Ampelography relates up to 76 different names of various Malvasias, with white, green, pink, purple and black grapes. He adds that the name Malvasía should be assigned to scented grapes that offer a special flavor of muscatel, a bit bitter, although until now grapes that do not have this special character have been included ”.
Abela (1885)
Taking into account this quote, it is easy to understand that it is enough to put the name of Malvasía to a variety to attribute those special characteristics, even if it does not really correspond to reality.
In Spain, varieties known as Malvasía have traditionally been cultivated in the following Autonomous Communities:
Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, La Rioja, Murcia, Navarra and Valencia.
After the identification analyzes, it has been found that in Spain eight different varieties are cultivated under the name of Malvasía in different Denominations of Origin.
- Alarije (Aris, Malvasía Riojana, Rojal, Subirat Parent) . The following varieties are grouped under this name in their respective Denominations of Origin: Malvasía (DO Calatayud and DO Navarra), Malvasía, Subirat Parent (DO Catalonia, DO Tarragona), Malvasía Riojana (DO Rioja).
- and 3. Aromatic Malvasía (Malvasía de Sitges) and Malvasía Rosada. This variety is grown under the name Malvasía and / or Malvasía Rosada in the DO Abona, El Hierro, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Tacoronte-Acentejo, Valle de Güímar, Valle de la Orotava, Vinos de Canarias and Ycoden-Daute-Isora). It takes the name of Malvasía de Sitges in the DO Catalonia.
- Chasselas. It corresponds to the variety known as Malvasía in the DO Bierzo.
- Doña Blanca (Cigüente, Dona Branca, Malvasía Castellana). This variety is the one mentioned as Malvasía in the DO Toro.
- Macabeo (Viura). The one cultivated under the name Malvasía in the DO Valencia corresponds to this variety.
- Nova Plant (Tardana, Tortozón). Corresponds to the sample grown as Malvasía, in the DO Yecla.
- Volcanic Malvasia. This variety has been found under the name of Malvasía in the following DOs: Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Valle de Güímar and Vinos de Canarias; with the name of Malvasía portuguesa and / or Sebastián García in the DO La Palma; and Malaga in the DO Tacoronte-Acentejo, all of them in the Canary Islands.
It follows that from all the Spanish Denominations of Origin in which Malvasía de berry blanca appears, we find eight different varieties :
Alarije, Aromatic Malvasia and Pink Malvasia, Chasselas, Doña Blanca, Macabeo, Planta Nova and Volcanic Malvasia.
Since the name of Malvasía should be assigned to scented grapes that offer a special flavor of muscatel a little bitter, only a few DO grow any of the three true types of Malvasía (Malvasía Aromática, Malvasía Rosada and Malvasía Volcánica), almost all of them located in the Canary Islands.
