PM calls for increased efforts to boost viticulture

Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami yesterday said that with Malta on the doorstep of EU membership, efforts to increase viticulture on the island should be quadrupled.

Speaking on his first visit to the Meridiana Wine Estate in Ta' Qali, he recalled that in his younger years there were many more vineyards than at present, but the number had dropped for reasons he did not know.

The prime minster said Meridiana proved that genuine Maltese wine, which could compete with wines of other countries, could be produced.

He was accompanied on the visit by Environment Minister Tonio Borg and Parliamentary Secretary George Pullicino.

The estate was born in 1987, two years after a comment made by a Bordeaux oenologist - that Malta had the ideal climate for growing vines - had set Mark Miceli-Farrugia thinking.

The French eonologist had persuaded Mr Miceli-Farrugia that there was potential for high quality wine growing in Malta, and Mr Miceli-Farrugia went into partnership with Edward V. Bartoli, under the counsel of oenologist Roger Aquilina.

In 1989, Meridiana acquired a 19-hectare site at ta' Qali following successful experimentation with different grape varieties and rootstocks.

The wine estate was planted in 1994 and 1995 with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot and a picturesque purpose-built winery, constructed from local limestone, was completed in 1996.

Mr Miceli-Farrugia said yesterday that people's scepticism about Maltese wine had been overcome and Malta could produce very high quality wine from locally grown vines, without having to add sugar or using imported grapes.

Meridiana showed that, through professional planning and perseverance, the exaggerated fears of risks such as arid years, strong winds or excessive heat could be overcome.

Mr Miceli-Farrugia said agricultural projects had different implications to other industrial projects as they yielded money after a relatively long time.

Banks in Malta were, in fact, still not ready to consider agricultural projects because of the length of the investment and because land for agricultural projects was usually rented, and so was impossible to pledge.

In spite of this, from the very beginning, Meridiana sought to satisfy European criteria on the authenticity of a Maltese product as well as innovative factors such as the treatment of liquid waste.

Meridiana was also proud of creating an environment which respected and complemented the Maltese countryside, he said. The vines are grown in an aesthetically pleasant way forming vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines.

Mr Miceli-Farrugia said it was satisfying for Meridiana that the Malta Tourism Authority considered Meridiana one of the main places of interest for foreign journalists and tourists.

The project, Mr Miceli-Farrugia said, was also proving that the Maltese countryside could be protected and ameliorated in a sustainable way.

He said that some six months ago, the company wrote to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority pointing out that the Maltese countryside would only be protected if used for really productive agricultural aims, such as viticulture.

Rural development plans in countries such as Austria, Norway, Italy, France and Japan provided financial compensation to farmers and land owners to cultivate land and retain rubble walls in a good state.