Malvasia di Lipari

Also known as Malvasia delle Lipari, Malvasia di Sardegna.

Malvasia di Lipari is an aromatic white grape of the Aeolian Islands off north-eastern Sicily, one of the many distinct members of the broad Malvasia family. It is the grape behind the celebrated sweet wine Malvasia delle Lipari, traditionally made as a passito from grapes dried in the island sun, often with a small proportion of the dark Corinto Nero.

It gives golden, intensely aromatic sweet wines of dried apricot, honey, candied citrus, herbs and Mediterranean scrub, with enough acidity to balance the sugar. The same variety is also grown in Sardinia, but the Aeolian passito is its most famous expression.