Red, white, sweet, and rosé wines with international prestige

For centuries Malaga has been a land of wines. In almost all its regions there are important oenological references, whether sweet, white, red, rosé or even sparkling. A good part of these wines are included within the two existing designations of origin. The Málaga Denomination of Origin, one of the oldest in Europe, has its origins in 1833. It was created to protect the prestigious wines of that time. Today they protect so-called still wines, which are made without added alcohol. Among them, we must differentiate between two types of sweets, those that come from overripe grapes and those that are made with raisined grapes.

Also included here are dry wines (with at least 15 degrees of alcohol) and liqueur wines, which are made by adding wine alcohol to the must during fermentation in order to stop it. The result can be dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet or sweet. For its part, the Sierras de Málaga Denomination of Origin protects still wines that have an alcohol content that is between 10 and 15.5 degrees. This includes both whites, reds and rosés. These wines, depending on their aging, may be aged (minimum two years, with 6 months in oak barrels), reserva (minimum 3 years and 12 months in oak barrels), gran reserva (minimum 5 years, 24 months of them in oak barrels and 36 months in bottle) or large reserve of whites and rosés (minimum 5 years and 6 months in oak barrels).

Grapes

Due to the grape used, the Málaga DO protects wines that are made mainly with the white Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel varieties. On the other hand, the Sierras de Málaga DO includes a wider range of grapes. Thus, in addition to the white varieties Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel de Alejandría, there are those of Moscatel Morisco Chardonnay, Macabeo, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc: Lairen and Doradilla, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Verdejo and Viognier; and the reds: Romé, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shyrah, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Graciano, Malbec, Monastrell and tintilla (tintilla de Rota). The certification by the Regulatory Council of these designations serves to verify the traceability of the origin, the adequacy of the production processes and the characteristics of the product to what is specified in the specifications. This verification implies the recognition of the right to use the Denomination of Origin by winegrowers or winemakers.