P.D.O. Monemvasia-Malvasia / Μονεμβασία-Malvasia

Greek port city (also Malvasy, Monembasia, Monemvassia) with today almost 5,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a rock off the coast of the province of Laconia on the south-eastern side of the Peloponnese peninsula. Because of its difficult capturing it was considered the "Gibraltar of the East". It owes its name to its location, "moni embasia" means "only access". In an extremely eventful history, it was under the rule of Byzantium, the Franks, again Byzantium, the Ottomans, the Pope, Venice, then again the Ottomans, again Venice and finally the Turks, until it finally fell to Greece in 1821 in the Greek war of liberation. In the late Middle Ages, under Venetian rule in the wine trade, the city was a famous trading centre for sweet wines from the Aegean, especially from the islands of Crete (Candia), Paros, Santorini (Thira) and Cyprus, which were shipped from here to many European countries. This led to the collective name Malvasia for the mostly sweet dessert wines made from various grape varieties, often not even related to each other. There is also a Greek grape variety called Monemvasia.

In 2010 the new appellation Monemvasia-Malvasia was created. It covers the regions Asopos, Molai, Monemvasia and Vies in the south of the region or peninsula Peloponnese. It is, so to speak, the revival of the historic sweet wine. Obligatory is a minimum of two years of oxidative ageing; for longer ageing, the duration must be four years or a multiple of four (8, 16, etc.). It is also possible to mix different vintages (harvests), similar to the Solera method for sherry, with the most recent vintage being indicated on the label. The wine must be made from dried grapes of the varieties Monemvasia (zum. 51%), Assyrtiko, Asproudes and Kydonitsa. There is a Liastos and a liqueur wine.