Valamar Blog

(1) Did you know that the wine sort Malvasia is at least two thousand years old? Istrian Malvasia is, beside the Malvasia del Lazio, delle Lipari, de Candia and di Sardegna one of the most famous of the 30 existing sorts of Malvasia.

This sort has it roots in the Greek peninsula Peleponnese, to be exact, the town of Monemvasia, and it was brought to Istria by the Venetian wine merchants. Studies have shown that the name “malvasia” was for the first time used in Venice in the 14th century, and the shops that sold it used exactly the name “malavsie” for the wine.

(2) Did you know that around 60% of wine produced in Istria is actually Malvasia? Rapid spread of Malvasia in this region took place in the 1930’s and 1940’s, after which it became the predominant white wine sort. As the time went by, and the production technology perfected, Malvasia gained more and more in quality.

The real boom of production occurred in the 1990’s, when a great number of high quality wines emerged. Parallel to this, first wine roads were opened in Istria, and the real confirmation of quality Malvasia received in the year 1988 when it was declared to be the best autochthonous wine sort in Croatia, and only a year after it was proclaimed as the best white wine in Croatia.

(3) Did you know that Malvasia has a straw-yellow color with golden nuance, and that the average alcohol content ranges from 11.5 to 13.5 vol% ? One of the characteristics of the Istrian Malvasia is that it has a high level of alcohol and extracts and at the same time moderate to low level of acidity, which transposes Malvasia into a full and well-rounded wine.