Venice By the thirteenth century, Greece had become a target of territorial expansion from the west by Frankish warlords and, ultimately, by Venice. In the following century, the Ottomans began cutting away at Greece from the east. These two forces had profound—and sometimes opposite—effects on winemaking in Greece during their respective periods of control over different regions. Venetian Map showing Central Greece and the Peloponessos The Venetian influence, (felt briefly in the Peloponessos, but mainly in the Ionian islands, Crete and parts of the Aegean islands) was manifested in the promotion of export production. Although the Venetians developed an extensive program of currant and olive production to the detriment of wine grape production in the Ionian islands, the lasting linguistic effect of their rule on cultivar names and wine genres there suggests they at least valued the existence of local winemaking. Author Clifford Wright, in his exhaustive history of Mediterranean cuisine, A Mediterranean Feast, mentions a fifteenth-century Italian reference to a fish stew boiled in Vino Greco. More significantly, the Venetians cultivated extensive markets as far north as England for Malvasia (Malmsey), a highly-prized sweet wine that was a predecessor to the fortified wines of the Iberian peninsula. Malvasia was produced originally on Crete, but eventually became associated with parts of the Peloponessos and certain Aegean islands. This trade began in the thirteenth century, disappearing gradually by the end of the nineteenth, but not without leaving an indelible influence on northern European tastes in sweet and fortified wines.