Raise a glass for Maltese wine

In the article entitled The Art of Wine Making (December 9), Mario Fava details the production of the seconda, mentioning even the addition of tannins, citric acid and sugar. This is an illegal practice. He also talks about learning "the tricks of the trade". In genuine wine-making there are no tricks but the use of quality grapes and the professional skills used in transforming the grape juice into quality wine with minimal manipulation.

All practices and processes in wine-making are regulated by law.

Another technical point is that the organic acid present in grapes is tartaric acid and not citric acid as mentioned. In fact, only the former is permitted by legislation and its addition is to be done within strict limits.

In Malta there is a system of licences for wine-making. The Viticulture and Oenology Unit issues these licences after health inspectors have certified that the wine-making premises are suitable for the task. Only wine-makers in possession of this licence may produce wine for commercial purposes.

Wine is indeed becoming an ever more popular product, one which could in the future provide sustenance to a number of Maltese and Gozitan farmers. It also has the potential of elevating Malta's traditional agro-alimentary products to a more prominent position and of enhancing our environment. This is the concept behind the strong support being given to the viticulture and wine sectors by the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment. Nevertheless, these sectors must also be controlled lest abuse takes place and the inherent potential lost. This may only be done through the regulation of the sector.

In Malta we have had a Wine Act since 1969, which regulated the production of wine and the practices that were permitted. In 2001 a new Wine Act in line with European Union regulations was enacted. Now that Malta is a member of the EU, all regulations issued by the EU are applicable. The basic regulation is Council Regulation (EC) 1493 of May 1999. This regulation sets down specific rules by which all wine-makers in the European Union must abide. This basic regualtion is then supplemented by other applicative regulations, which give more details on its application. Moreover, national legislation is in the process of being issued to set up certain rules that pertain to Malta as a member state. All of these regulations may be consulted on the website www.agric.gov.mt of the agricultural services and rural development division under the Viticulture and Oenology section.

The Viticulture and Oenology Unit is the office that has been designated to provide support to and control of the viticulture and oenology sectors. In fact, technical help is already being given to farmers and wine producers who seek consultation. A twinning project with Italy and financed by the EU on viticulture has just been terminated and about 21 Italian experts have contributed to the training of the unit's staff and farmers. Another twinning, again with Italy and financed by the EU, has just begun and will address oenology (wine-making) aspects, especially in relation to legislation, controls and technical processes.

Through a recently established wine laboratory, the unit also controls the qualitative parameters of wine being produced and sold in Malta and Gozo together with the quality of the grapes being grown. These controls are important since they guarantee to the consumers the quality of the wine they are buying. This will in fact form the basis for the introduction of the EU endorsed system of Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions (QWPSR). All these regulations have one target in mind: the protection of the consumer and the wine product.

Mr Abela is the government's director of information.