Beautiful Malvasia Istriana

By Sonya Logan

First published in the January/February 2014 issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal

While you’d be hard-pressed to put your hands on a bottle of an Australian-made varietal Malvasia Istriana right now, it may not be too long before a few start bobbing up if the praises from a couple of local industry proponents is anything to go by.

One of those fans is Kim Chalmers, whose family imported a clone of Malvasia Istriana (VCR4) into Australia along with some 70 other clones and varieties in 2000 to take up root in the family vine nursery business which they owned at the time at Euston, in New South Wales.

“The first time I tried a Malvasia Istriana I remember thinking, ‘what a beautiful wine’,” Kim

Chalmers recalls. She also fondly recalls tasting the Malvasia Istriana that won the Chairman’s Wine to Watch trophy at the Alternative Varieties Wine Show in 2011 – known as the Green Man Malvasia produced from the 2010 vintage. “It was a cracking wine!” she said.

Kim Chalmers and her family made a 100% Malvasia Istriana themselves back in 2005 as a project wine under their Chalmers Wines label – a dry table wine – and a dessert style wine in 2009.

With her husband Bart and sister Tenille, she also made some Malvasia Istriana in 2013 as part of a project the trio have dubbed Bucketwine, so named because most of the wines in the project were small enough in volume to be fermented in white buckets. And there are plans to make more Bucketwine Malvasia this year.

“We recently opened a bottle of Malvasia that we made back in 2005 and it had a flintyness and a clean wetstone character. The wines that we’ve made from Malvasia have also had a pleasant dry straw character to them.”

Chalmers said Malvasia Istriana wasn’t “too precious” in hot conditions and was “middle of the road” for acidity.

“It’s definitely a wine that I recommend people try,” she said.

Also a fan is Patrick Sullivan, of Thousand Candles wine company, based in the Yarra Valley. Sullivan purchased some fruit from Chalmers’ vineyard last year and although ended up blending it away, plans on making some more when the quantities allow.

“I think Malvasia is fantastic. I drink lots of it – always have. I used a bit of skin contact when I made it last year and although it was savoury it still had a brightness about it as well which I like.

It tastes like sunshine without being insipid,” Sullivan said.

Malvasia Istriana

By Peter Dry, Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute

Background

Malvasia Istriana (mal-VAH-zia is-tree-AHN-ah) originated in the Istria peninsula of northwest Croatia and spread down the coast to Dalmatia. In Croatia It is mainly grown in Istria where it is the main variety of any colour, and the second-most important overall. Globally there were 2749 ha in 2010 (up 262% from 2000), 27% in Slovenia. In northeast Italy there are now just 300 ha or so at present, well down from the 4000 ha in the 1970s. Malvasia Istriana is just one of many varieties known as ‘Malvasia’ that are grown from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. However, these varieties do not have a common origin and may be genetically very distinct. Malvasia Istriana is genetically close to Malvasia di Lipari (syn. Malvasia di Sardegna), Malvasia Bianca Lunga and Malvasia Nera di Brindisi, but does not have a close relationship with the widely planted Malvasia Bianca di Candia (in Italy) or Malvasia Bianca di Piemonte (in California). In the past Malvasia Istriana was thought to have a Greek origin—but the genetic research does not support this proposition. Synonyms include Malvazija Istarska (Croatia), Malvasia del Carso and Malvasia Friulana (north-east Italy) and Polijšakica Drnovk (Slovenia). In Australia there are currently at least 4 wine producers, in Vic. and SA.

Viticulture

Malvasia Istriana is said to be easy to grow. Budburst is mid-season to late and maturity is mid-season. Growth habit is semi-erect and vigour is high. Bunches are medium to large, well-filled and berries medium to large, yellowish with thick skin, juicy flesh and neutral taste. Yield is moderate and regular with some millerandage in cool seasons. Cane pruning is most common. Susceptibility to diseases is average with the exception of oidium to which it is very susceptible. It has good tolerance of cold winters, early frosts and windy sites. Good canopy management and yield control are necessary in most locations.

Wine

Acidity is moderate and alcohol can be potentially high. Wines vary considerably in style from light and fresh to full-bodied, soft and luscious (somewhat analogous to Pinot G). Malvasia Istriana wines tend to be fresher than wines from most other ‘Malvasias’—but some Istrian examples can have excessive phenolics due to long skin contact. There is some clonal variation in terms of expression of citrus, apple, muscat and minty notes while a distinctive ’honey-like tang’ seems to be common to all.