The name Malvasia seems to derive from a Greek city in the Peloponnese (Monenbasia, Monemvasia, or Monovasia, meaning “port with a single entrance”), a city that, due to its similarity in sound with the Greek name, was renamed by the Venetians “Malvasia”.
Venice itself marketed a highly prized wine from Malta. Could this be the same product that in the late Middle Ages became one of the most famous and renowned wines produced mainly in Crete and Rhodes?
Whatever its origin, it was the Venetians who used the term Malvasia to refer to sweet and alcoholic wines from the eastern part of the Mediterranean.