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Winery: Set d'Oli

Designation of Origin (D.O.): No D.O.

Vintage: 2020

Variety: 100% Malvasia de Sitges

Alcohol content: 13.5% vol.

Tasting notes:

Appearance: a golden yellow color, with quite intensity, very bright and clean, with a swirling in the glass showing glyceric touches that display a good and beautiful tear.

Nose: offers intense aromas of ripe stone fruits (peach, apricot) and tropical notes.

Palate: Costenc is dry and fresh with a balanced acidity on the palate.

Serving temperature: 10-12ºC

Production: It is a truly different and perhaps unique wine, as we are talking about a wine made as a single varietal with a white grape recovered such as Malvasia de Sitges. A grape recovered by this project, Set & Ros, made outside the D.O., and aged in barrels for 6 months which gives it great complexity. A limited production of 3,400 bottles of this estate wine.

Pairing: at Made in Spain Gourmet we recommend it with fish, seafood, white meats, poultry, soups, creams, vegetables. And of course with semi-cured vegan cheeses from Veggie Karma and semi-cured sheep cheeses from Calaveruela.

Costenc, a wine for design-loving winelovers

Like coming from the sea, its 'coastal' wine Costenc conquers inside and out... It is made with 'sea-beaten' grapes of the forgotten Malvasia de Sitges variety, whose essence is reflected in the bottle itself, which seems to have half a body damaged by salt as if it were a buoy. It is a wine with character, fresh, with aromatic complexity in ripe fruits and floral notes of which only 3,400 numbered bottles are made. The marine erosion of the vineyards marks its flavor and is reflected in a container that speaks for itself.

A masterpiece that has just received one of the most relevant awards in the sector, the Gold for packaging design at the Best of European Design & Advertising Awards. So if your partner loves design and wine, it is a sure hit.

Main characteristics of the Malvasia grape

Before describing this type of grape, you must be aware that we are talking about one of the oldest grapes in the country. There are not many regions with this grape as its production is low due to its sensitivity, it tends to be very susceptible to various diseases so they are gradually replaced by stronger varieties.

Its cluster is medium-sized and not very compact, it is extremely sensitive to rot, a fatal characteristic in wine production. The sensitivity of this grape means that not many people bet on it, therefore wines made with Malvasia are unique and very special.

It is an international variety as we can find it in Portugal as the protagonist in the production of Madeira Wine, in France, Croatia, Slovenia and even in Brazil, but Italy is the main country producing this variety. In Spain, there is also a wide extension. The autonomous communities of Castilla y León and Valencia are the clear representatives although in Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Cantabria, La Rioja, and Murcia also bet on it.

Origins of the Malvasia grape

According to the expert you talk to, he will tell you that this variety comes from Asia or Greece. The exact place of origin is not clear, nor are the grape varieties that precede it, but its Greek origin is important. It is said that those responsible for introducing it in Spain, in the 14th century, were the Almogavars. These organized in guerrilla troops were dominated by the kings of the Crown of Aragon and settled on the coasts of Valencia upon returning from expeditions to Byzantium.

From this variety, several sub-varieties have emerged, due to its great internationalization: Alarije, Chasselas, Aromatic Malvasia, Castilian Malvasia, Pink Malvasia, Volcanic Malvasia or Black Malvasia. Depending on the production area in