The legend of the Malvasía de Sitges

Legend has it that the first sprouts of Malvasia arrived in Sitges from the hand of an almogávar who, in the early 14th century, accompanied Roger de Flor to the eastern Mediterranean to fight against the Turks who besieged the Byzantine Empire.

Between centuries XV and XVII the cultivation of the malvasía extended by all the basin of Mare Nostrum and became one of the favorite wines of kings and popes.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the malvasia strains occupied a quarter of the land that was cultivated in the municipality of Sitges. During that century and the next, the Malvasia was exported throughout Europe and also to the overseas colonies, which made it one of the most appreciated Catalan wines outside our borders.

The arrival of the phylloxera, the appearance of the champagne and the high costs of production marked the beginning of the end of the malvasia.

Conscious that its cultivation would disappear completely, in 1935, the diplomat Manuel Llopis de Casadas - last heir of the house Llopis- wanted to avoid it bequeathing to the Hospital of Sitges the vineyard of Aiguadolç and the family business of elaboration of malvasía, conserved by several Generations of their ancestors.

For more than half a century, the Hospital San Juan Bautista Foundation has remained faithful to the legacy left by Manuel Llopis de Casadas. As it was specified in the will, nowadays the institution still sends annually to the executor of the legacy 12 bottles of malvasía to record that continues to elaborate this tasty product.

Source: Hospital de Sitges