RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

The Roussillon Malvoisie is an originally Catalan vine, adapted to very hot climates. It is a hardy variety, strong and with average productivity. The average sized bunches consist of thick-skinned grapes of a reddish-gold colour. The young leaves are yellowish and fuzzy; when then get to full size, they are medium-large, rather soft and slightly blistered. 

The origins of the Roussillon Malvoisie were long the subject of heated debates among ampelographers; today, the consensus is unanimous around the fact that it is identical to the Torbato, a Sardinian grapevine. It could also derive from Catalonia as from Sardinia: both ancient provinces of the Aragon Crown in the 14th century. It is difficult to reconstruct the history exactly and the role this vine played in the Roussillon area. 
As it is a late grower, the vine is more vulnerable to weather conditions and prolongs the harvest period. It is sensitive to a certain number of diseases (oidium, thrips, American leafhoppers and mostly to viruses, endemic to French vineyards), it has also been subjected to the Roussillon vineyard crisis, which led to vine growers abandoning the care and value of their wine capital. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, other vines were preferred, like the Grenache or the Maccabeu, capable of guaranteeing a more stable production and an alcoholic volume superior to the Malvoisie (which requires extra work in order to be protected from the high winds), notwithstanding its wine has an ideal degree of acidity for southern wine production. After a bad blow caused by downy mildew and the subsequent decline, the vine was recovered and relaunched thanks to the introduction of plant heads from Sardinia and to the intense work at the Tressere technical station. However, the risk is that it is too late for this variety, even if it responds perfectly because of its organoleptic qualities to the œnological standards of French Catalonia. 
The organoleptic qualities of wines produced by Torbato are always taken as a reference, and recent wine tastings only confirmed this vine’s excellence, giving golden coloured wines, light, pleasantly fragrant and with high acidity. Even if there was no need, the rare, natural sweet wines produced by the Roussillon Malvoisie, attest to its enormous qualitative potential. 

(Source: Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity – Ark of Taste) https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/?fwp_arca_settore=wines-and-grape-varietals-en)

Total production in Sardinia: 134 hectares

History relates that this vine landed in Spain in the wake of the Carthaginians and Phoenicians, who came from the Aegean sea basin, considered to be the place of origin of the great Malvasia family, a family in which Torbato is surely to be numbered. Subsequent eras saw the vine spread to areas around the Mediterranean basin, including Sardinia, where it was introduced during the period of Spanish dominion. Cultivation of the vine increased considerably during the 300-year period of Catalan occupation of the island. Most of the wine was exported to the court of the King of Aragon, where it was particularly appreciated. Nowadays, it is grown in a small, 900 hectare zone of Alghero, an area bearing clear signs of its Catalan past. Torbato is purely produced to obtain the eponymous wine, as well as a sparkling variety, both bearing the title of DOC Alghero. The wine is of a medium straw colour, with a taste which recalls minerals, white flowers and fruit. It is both lively and refreshing.

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