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White Grape · Sicily
Malvasia di Lipari
Barely 53 hectares of it exist, almost all on two volcanic islands north of Sicily, and most of that crop is dried in the sun before it ever reaches a press.
Malvasia di Lipari is the golden-skinned white grape of the Aeolian islands, grown on the terraced volcanic slopes of Salina and Lipari off Sicily's northern coast. Italy holds barely 53 hectares of it, almost all of that crop destined for the sun-dried passito that carries the islands' name.
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Clearing it up
One name, two different wines
vs
This is the grape
Malvasia di Lipari
The grape
- A vine, not a wineRegistered in the national variety catalogue in 1970 under code 135.
- Di, not delleThe varietal name takes the singular form, referring to the island of Lipari.
- Same as Malvasia di SardegnaA ministerial decree of May 2018 recognised the two as one variety.
Not this
Malvasia delle Lipari
The denomination
- A wine, not a vineThe Sicilian denomination covering the Aeolian islands.
- Delle, not diThe plural form refers to the whole Lipari island group, not one island.
- Famous as a passitoBest known for sun-dried sweet wine, though a dry version exists.
The anchor fact: The grape is registered as Malvasia di Lipari; the wine is Malvasia delle Lipari. A 2018 ministerial decree also confirmed the grape is the same variety as Malvasia di Sardegna.
Taste · Where it sits
What it’s actually like in the glass
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Malvasia di Lipari described against grapes you already know.
BodyDense in passito, slight when dry
LightFull
Sun-drying does the work: the passito is thick and unctuous while the rare dry bottlings are lighter than Zibibbo from Pantelleria. Almost no other Italian white swings this far between its two styles.
TanninNone to speak of
NoneGrippy
Golden skins with no phenolic bite, even after drying. Unlike an orange-wine Catarratto, this grape is never vinified for grip.
AcidityLively, and the reason it works
SoftRacy
Retains genuine freshness through the drying process, which is precisely what keeps the passito from cloying. Zibibbo relies on salinity for the same job; this grape has real acid.
Fruit-sweetnessSweet by design, dried not fresh
Bone dryLusciously sweet
The register is dried apricot and fig rather than the fresh peach of a young Sicilian white, because most of the crop is laid out in the sun before pressing.
Key flavours
Apricot
Always dried rather than fresh, a direct consequence of the sun-drying, and the note that most reliably identifies an Aeolian passito in a blind line-up.
Honey
Comes from concentration rather than botrytis, so it stays clean and floral instead of taking on the waxy character of a botrytised dessert wine.
Fig
Dried figs are the Aeolian signature and the clearest point of difference from Pantelleria's Zibibbo, which leans muskier and grapier instead.
Almond
Echoes the island pastries the wine is traditionally served with, and surfaces on the finish alongside a faintly bitter, herbal twist.
Elderflower
The yellow-flower lift Italian tasters find in this variety, more delicate than Zibibbo's heavy orange blossom and easiest to spot in the dry bottlings.
Raisin
Present but restrained; unlike Zibibbo, whose very name means raisin, this grape keeps the dried-grape note behind the apricot and fig.
Racy · Crisp
Round · Soft
Light-bodied
Bold · Full
Chardonnay
Glera
Vermentino
Pinot Grigio
Sauvignon Blanc
Garganega
Malvasia di Lipari
The map
Malvasia di Lipari is full-bodied, balanced acidity, mapped against other white grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and freshness resemble Malvasia di Lipari.
Malvasia di Liparifull-bodied, balanced acidity
Chardonnaylighter
Gleramuch lighter, crisper
Vermentinomuch lighter, crisper
Pinot Grigiomuch lighter, crisper
Sauvignon Blancmuch lighter, far crisper
Garganegamuch lighter, crisper
Is this for you?
An honest gut-check
Reach for it when…
A bold red that just works
- You want one of Italy's rarest sweet wines
- You are comparing Sicily's two volcanic-island dessert wines side by side
- You like dessert wines with real acidity rather than pure sugar
- You are pairing almond pastries, dried fruit or aged pecorino
Maybe skip it if…
You’re after something else tonight
- You want something easy to find or cheap; 53 hectares is not much wine
- You are looking for a dry everyday white
- You prefer the musky, grapey register of Muscat
- You want a red, since this island grows almost none worth chasing
Serving guide
Pour it at its best
Serve at
8-12°C
Serve it properly cold or the sugar dominates and the herbal lift disappears entirely.
Decant
No
No. There is nothing to soften and the aromatics only suffer.
Glass
Standard Dessert Glass
A small dessert glass keeps the pour modest and concentrates the dried apricot.
Drink within
3-5 days
The passito is ready on release but gains complexity with a few years in bottle.
Cellar
3-10 years
Good passito holds for a decade or more; the dry version should be drunk young.
On the table
What to eat with Malvasia di Lipari
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
Salt against sugar
Blue cheese
The lively acidity that survives sun-drying is what lets this wine stand up to a salty blue, where a softer dessert wine would simply be swamped.
Honey meets honey
Baklava
Nuts, honey and dried fruit run through both the pastry and the wine, a Mediterranean overlap that reflects the islands' long Greek connection.
Dark chocolate only
Chocolate cake
The dried-fig note has enough weight for bitter chocolate, though this is a less natural match than the almond pastries the islands actually serve.
Where it grows
Where Malvasia di Lipari grows in Sicily
Sicily
Volcanic Nerello on Etna's black terraces, sun-baked Nero d'Avola on the south-east coast, fortified Marsala in Trapani and UNESCO Zibibbo on Pantelleria: Sicily holds Italy's widest single-region wine map.
607 wines
·
31 denominations
Explore the Sicily guide
607 wines
31 denominations
The terroir
Everything about this grape is dictated by island geography: volcanic soils, terraced slopes, sea wind and enough summer sun to dry the fruit outdoors.
Salina
The greenest of the Aeolian islands
The heartland, with terraced volcanic slopes giving the most complete passito
Lipari
The largest island of the group
Warmer and drier sites, historically the trading centre that gave the wine its name
Vulcano and Stromboli
The outlying volcanic islands
Tiny parcels on active volcanoes, rarely bottled separately
Editorial
About Malvasia di Lipari
Malvasia di Lipari entered Italy's national variety register in May 1970 under code 135. Its arrival in the Aeolian archipelago is traditionally traced to the late Greek or Byzantine period, though the first reliable documentary mentions come only in the late Middle Ages. In May 2018 a ministerial decree formally recognised it as synonymous with Malvasia di Sardegna, settling a long-running question about whether the islands and Sardinia were growing the same vine.
Italy grows around 53 hectares of Malvasia di Lipari, almost all of it on small volcanic islands with no room to expand.
On the scale of the Aeolian vineyardThe vine has medium-high vigour, medium-large trilobate or pentalobate leaves and a cylindrical-conical bunch of large spherical berries with golden-yellow skins. Those skins are the point: left to dry in the sun they concentrate into a wine of real density. Dry bottlings are straw yellow, while the passito turns golden amber and smells of dried apricot, honey and dried figs, lifted by yellow flowers and aromatic herbs. Even at full sweetness the acidity stays lively, which is what separates it from a flat dessert wine.
The plantings are tiny and concentrated. Salina and Lipari hold most of the 53 hectares, with smaller parcels on Vulcano and Stromboli, all of them volcanic islands in the province of Messina. The wines carry the Malvasia delle Lipari denomination, and the passito is by far the best known style. Within Sicily this puts it in the same company as the island's other sweet wines, though it is far rarer than any of them.
The obvious comparison is Zibibbo on Pantelleria, Sicily's other volcanic-island sweet wine, and the two make a useful pair: Zibibbo is muskier and more overtly perfumed, Malvasia di Lipari more about dried stone fruit and herbs. For the dry side of Sicilian white wine see Grillo and Carricante, and our guide to Etna wines covers the volcanic thread that runs through all of them.
Good to know
Frequently asked
It is the wine of the Aeolian islands off northern Sicily, made from the Malvasia di Lipari grape and most famous in its passito form, where the grapes are dried in the sun before pressing. The denomination covers vineyards on Salina, Lipari and the smaller islands. The name of the wine uses delle Lipari while the grape itself is registered as Malvasia di Lipari.
Officially yes. A ministerial decree in May 2018 formally recognised the two as synonyms, confirming that the vine grown on the Aeolian islands and the one grown in Sardinia are the same variety under different regional names. Before that they were listed separately in the national register, which is why older references treat them as distinct grapes.
Very. Italy grows around 53 hectares of it in total, concentrated on Salina and Lipari with smaller parcels on Vulcano and Stromboli. For comparison, that is a fraction of the area planted to Frappato, itself considered a niche Sicilian variety. The scarcity is partly geography: these are small volcanic islands with limited terraced land and no room to expand.
Golden amber in colour, with dried apricot, honey and dried figs on the nose, lifted by yellow flowers and aromatic herbs. The palate carries substantial residual sugar but keeps a lively acidity, so it finishes clean rather than cloying. It is less musky and grapey than a Zibibbo passito from Pantelleria, and more about dried stone fruit and Mediterranean herbs.
Yes, though it is much less common than the passito. Dry bottlings are straw yellow rather than amber, aromatic but not sweet, and they suit the local cooking of capers, salt-cured fish and grilled seafood. They are worth seeking out because they show the grape's floral and herbal side without the concentration that sun-drying brings.
Explore by style
Wine styles made from Malvasia di Lipari
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
Keep exploring