The Malvasia Bianca di Candia grape variety is part of the larger family of Malvasia grape varieties. The name Malvasia actually refers to many grape varieties, most of them white, geographically distributed throughout Italy. Although of different origins, all these varieties share some basic characteristics: they all have, to varying degrees of intensity, a spicy fragrance of musk and apricot and relatively high residual sugar levels. These characteristics make the Malvasia group of grape varieties particularly suitable for the production of sparkling wines and passiti (dessert wines). The name “Malvasia” derives from a contracted variation of Monembasia, a Byzantine stronghold perched on the rocks of a promontory in the south of the Peloponnese, in Greece, where sweet wines were produced and then exported throughout Europe by the Venetians under the name of Monemvasia.

The wine made from this variety became extremely popular, so much so that Venice was full of taverns called Malvase, dedicated to its consumption. The Malvasia Bianca di Candia grape variety is cultivated in Lazio and, to a lesser extent, in Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Tuscany, Liguria, and Lombardy. It is distinguished from Malvasia di Candia Aromatica by the absence of aromaticity in the berry. In Lazio, the grapes of Malvasia Bianca di Candia are the main component (together with Trebbiano Toscano) of wines such as: Castelli Romani Bianco DOC, Cerveteri Bianco DOC, Circeo Bianco DOC, Colli Albani Bianco DOC, Colli della Sabina Bianco DOC, and Cori Bianco DOC.