Malvasia

Today Malmsey is a sweet Madeira wine made -- in Portugal, the Azores, the Canaries, Sardinia, and Sicily -- from fully ripe grapes that are partially dried on the vine. In the 15th century it was still made predominately in Greece, from whence its name derives (Monemvasia on the coast of Laconia), and very popular with those English who were rich enough to afford it.

A 'butt of wine (from the middle French botte) is a large cask (or barrel) holding two hogsheads of wine. A hogshead varied in size but today is most commonly 63 U.S. gallons, so a butt is now usually 126 U.S. gallons or 108 imperial gallons.