(By Michael Tabone)
Here we go again. I had high hopes that Maltese winemakers had finally understood that 'Wine made in Malta' can only mean wine made from grapes that are grown on these islands. Oddly enough we have just learnt that not only Maltese winemakers haven't understood this but also Mr Verhuegen, who as a Belgian and as a Eurocrat should know better. So here I am once again, finding myself, writing an article of the sort to follow.
The definition of wine in the European Union and for that matter to us that love wine is " THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE OBTAINED FROM THE FERMENTATION OF THE JUICE OF FRESHLY GATHERED WINE GRAPES. THE FERMENTATION OF WHICH TAKING PLACE IN THE DISTRICT OF ORIGIN ACCORDING TO LOCAL TRADITION AND PRACTICE."
Now before someone starts arguing that it is our tradition to import grapes or must and call the resultant beverage 'Maltese' or that it is our tradition to add sugar to boost alcohol, let me briefly explain the underlying basis for the above statement.
In its main composition, wine is a combination of fruit, acid, alcohol and tannins. It is an agricultural product helped along with man's intervention and acquired knowledge. Climate and micro climate, geography and geology, grape variety and age of vine, local cultures, traditions and Politics all have a part to play but the main determining factor in the style and quality of wine is climate. It is the climatic conditions that the grapes were grown in that gives wine, it's style, typicity and quality criteria’s. For example and without going into much elaboration, Chardonnay grown on limestone with overlying clay in Chablis would be of medium alcohol, with refreshing acidity and a citrussy, aromatic fruit composition. Chardonnay grown on limestone in Malta would have a high alcohol with low acidity and a fuller flavour with a tropical fruit(Pineapple etc. ) makeup
All of this is basically because Chablis, in the northern part of Burgundy in France has a continental climate whilst Malta obviously has a Central Mediterranean climate.
At a time when we already have real Maltese wine made from real Maltese vineyards, The likes of Meridiana, Marsovin's 5 vineyards and the project of vines for wines by Delicata . Now that the hard work by Mr Carbone and his team at the Agricultural Department has started bearing fruit with subsidies for new vineyards, why do we turn the clock back and compromise the authenticity of Maltese wine by allowing Maltese wineries to call wines made from imported grapes 'Maltese'
Putting aside the fact that they should have never been allowed to do this in the first place, I understand that a considerable amount of business and employment is generated by the wineries that are involved in this type of winemaking. No one, including the EU is saying to stop doing this. We don't mind, having a lot of untypical, industrial wine on our shelves and restaurants for those people who don't mind drinking bad wine, only label that wine according to what is in the bottle. If our wineries are convinced, at least by reading some of their labels, that all this wine made from imported grapes is of such a high quality, why not clearly state where the grapes come from. Why do they insist on putting 'Malta' on the label when as clearly shown above it cannot possibly be construed as Maltese. Could it be that by putting Malta on the label, winemakers are trying to take advantage of a genuine demand by consumers, many of which are innocent tourists who want to taste what Malta has to offer?.
Discussing a similar subject with my very dear friend and mentor, Alain Querre from Bordeaux, he took the argument even further and argued that products like this should not even be allowed to be called wine. His reasoning was that over the years, genuine wine growers have accepted extremely severe regulations limiting place of origin, yields systems of viticulture etc. in order to produce natural and typical quality
.He continued by asking two questions :
"Why should we object to people eventually preferring a cheaper Industrial drink to real wine with real typicity?
But why should certain merchants insist on calling this beverage a wine unless it is to cash in on the good image of a sincere natural product?
Many people including people that should know better, have over the years been telling us how much the wine industry have improved. They told us that Maltese wines were now on par with their European counterparts winning competitions, etc. The truth is that this was all nonsense. No one can argue that the winemaking skills of our oenologists and technology in the winery had not improved, but that does not mean that the wine had improved. Of course with better know how and state of the art equipment some of these beverages made from imported grapes and musts from Italy are engineered to taste 'OK' in the short term, but believe me when I tell you that if you think that Merlot tastes like what you have been accustomed to, you are bound to be surprised if you taste a real Merlot wine from Malta.
Which brings me to the heart of the matter. If a bottle made by Marsovin, Delicata or Camilleri is made from Merlot imported from Italy. What criteria shall I use to asses it's quality. Maltese, Italian or what?
The biggest asset that existing and future Maltese wine companies have, always had and should continue to have is the Maltese climate which should clearly be represented in the bottle. The label on the outside of the bottle is the identity card and the main marketing tool of this idea. There are many millions of different wines with Chardonnay and Merlot on them. Some are good and some are bad, but very few wines can have Malta on them. It would be wise to ensure that all the wines with 'Malta' on the label would come to represent. Authenticity, typicity and quality.
It is for the benefit all Maltese winemakers and all Maltese people who pride themselves in being Maltese that only genuine Maltese wine be labelled as such.
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