Malvasia

The name Malvasia actually covers a group of mostly unrelated grapes which hail from Italy, Greece and warmer parts of the Mediterranean. Most of them make good sweet wines, high in alcohol. Otherwise, you will normally find them as part-players in a blend bringing some stuffing and depth to the wine. Most Malvasia grapes are white, but the odd one is red. Malvasia di Candia was taken from Crete to the Atlantic island of Madeira where it makes the sweetest wine style, usually labelled with its anglicised name, Malmsey.