Winemaker Notes
Best enjoyed with shellfish, salads or grilled fish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Femina is all Malvasia di Candia–from Crete–unoaked, dry and coming in at 13.5% alcohol. Sourced from limestone-soil vineyards at 300 to 400 meters in altitude, this is typically aromatically invigorating, a little grassy, spicy and floral, exuberant on the nose. And it is Malvasia, which tends to have some personality. It is a sure-fire refresher in the summer, but that's not all. It has reasonable concentration for the level and excellent structure. It is tightly wound on the palate, especially now that it is young, finishing with its typical tension. One of my favorite summer refreshers, this is a can't-miss buy if you like fresh whites with personality. It may well age a bit, too (the winery advised five to seven years), but it is a fresh white that benefits greatly from its freshness, so you might not want to bother holding it very long, no matter how long it theoretically lasts.
-
Wine & Spirits
There's a succulence to this honeysuckle-scented wine that's unusual for this perfumed grape variety, a sweet-salty play between peaches and sea spray. It's juicy and fresh, weighted for light vegetable dishes and seafood. Best Buy.
Persistent with jasmine aromas and tropical fruit flavors, both grape and name are far-reaching. Approximately 70 registered grapes contain Malvasia as part of their name or are listed as a synonym. The French call it Malvoisie, Germans call it Malvasier, British say Malmsey and confusingly one variety double-times under the alias, Boal, on the island of Madeira. In any case, Italy has more forms of Malvasia than any other country: Malvasia Bianca di Candia, Malvasia di Candia Aromatico and the red-skinned Malvasia di Casorzo from Piedmont. The list goes on. Somm Secret—The actual name could stem from an Italian mispronunciation of Monemvasia, a southern Greek port.
As one of Greece’s largest island’s, its wines enjoyed high glory during the Middle Ages. Today Crete is full of ambitious winemakers with the city of Heraklion as its viticultural hub.