Malvasia Σητείας (Malvasia Sitia)

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Sitia region experiences prolonged droughts that prevent the development of fungal diseases, while relatively low temperatures prevail due to the altitude of the zone and the sea breeze.

• Lucullus transported sealed amphorae of Sitia wines for his legendary banquets, and numerous historical references to the wines of the area survive from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
• The old vines of Sitia are own-rooted, pre-phylloxera, of great age, and trained in a gobelet (cup) form, with yields well below 8,000 kg/ha for white varieties and 6,000 kg/ha for red varieties; generally, the vines of the region are not irrigated except in exceptional cases of prolonged drought, and pruning is kept particularly short for Liatiko.

• The wines of the region are high in alcohol owing to the abundant sunshine and the particular geological character of the area, while at the same time retaining good acidity as a result of the mild, cool climate of the mountainous coastal massifs.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Greece

Sources

• National product specification (PDF) — ypaat
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-GR-A1608
• Official trade body site — ΕΔΟΑΟ — Εθνική Διεπαγγελματική Οργάνωση Αμπέλου & Οίνου