Málaga
Málaga · Andalusia
DO MálagaDO Sierras de Málaga599.063inhabitants
1487wine documented
Capital of the Costa del Sol. Founded by Phoenicians from Tyre as Malaka around the 8th century BC on top of a Bastulan settlement; it was Roman Malaca and Andalusi Málaqa. It gives its name to the DO Málaga, known for its sweet wines.
First mention: The oldest records of the name are Punic coins from the local mint bearing the legend mlkʾ (Malaka), without a precise date in the source. Among classical authors it is mentioned by Strabo and Pliny (“Malaca cum fluvio foederatorum”, NH III, 8; c. AD 77).
The legend
legends from the 13th century and 1791; documented from 1487 (Repartimientos) and 1502 (royal ordinance)The Lords of the Vineyards and the “Cardinal of Wines”
Málaga tells its own story as a city of wine since the Phoenicians, and local tradition adds legendary episodes: that in a famous “battle of the wines” organised by the King of France in 1224, Málaga's wine was proclaimed “cardinal of wines”, or that Empress Catherine II, delighted with some cases given to her by Ambassador Gálvez in 1791, exempted Málaga wine from taxes. The documented history begins with the conquest: the Libros de Repartimientos of 1487 allot vineyards, in 1489 the town council sent to Seville for its wine regulations, and on 12 January 1502 the Catholic Monarchs, at the request of the “lords of the vineyards”, issued the first ordinance protecting local wine. From those vine growers was born the Hermandad de Viñeros (Brotherhood of Vine Growers), confirmed by Philip III.
Alive today: The Hermandad de Viñeros lives on in two forms: as a guild, in the Regulatory Council of the DOP Málaga, Sierras de Málaga and Pasas de Málaga, headquartered in the Plaza de los Viñeros; and as a religious confraternity that processes on Maundy Thursday from the church of La Aurora. Historic sweet-wine bodegas and taverns such as Quitapenas and the Antigua Casa de Guardia are still active in the city.
Wineries and their wines
- Chapera
- Dulce Garijo
- El Chavea
- Guinda
- Isabel II
- Moscatel Málaga
- Pajarete 1908
- Pedro Ximen 1908
- Verdiales Cream
- Verdiales Seco
- Bibir
- Florestel dulce
- Guadalvín
- Málaga P.X. Noble
- Pajarete Quitapenas 3 años
- Quitapenas Dorado Moscatel
- Quitapenas Málaga Dulce
- Vermouth Quitapenas PX
Wine towns nearby