Giustini. Malvasia Frizzante 'Jento'

IGT Puglia Frizzante
Grape: Malvasia

Light, fresh, dry, gently sparkling, joyously easy to drink.  The fruit is immaculate with citrus fruit lifted by jasmine, lychee and tangerine.  Best served about 7 degrees in large glasses and good company.  11%

Link to the Giustini producer page

Frizzante wines are quite rare nowadays, these are lightly sparkling wines which are naturally made, usually in an autoclave (a tank designed to withstand pressure) – as is the case here.  The grape variety is interesting, Malvasia is a name that is part of many names; this one is known as Malvasia Moscato in the north and it is thought to have been transported to Puglia by northerners moving south.  There is no documentation to support this theory, in fact population moving south is almost unheard of. 

Malvasia Moscato is represented in several DOC wines in the south, however, it has no official recognition in the north.  Confusingly, the wines of the south can be called Malvasia Istriana, Malvasia Bianca di Candia or even Malvasia Bianca lunga.  What is certain is that the character of the southern wine is very different from the few remaining examples in the north.  The chances are that the Malvasia Bianca of the south is distinct from the Malvasia Moscata of the northwest and the Malvasia Istriana of the northeast.  The 7 lobes with deep indentations on the leaf make Malvasia Moscata easy to distinguish from the more common Moscato Bianco.