Delicata puts faith in the future of Maltese wines
As banks around the world are licking their balance sheets and refuse to grant loans that carry even a whiff of risk, Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker presses on investing €1.2 million in the building of a brand new red wine tank farm adjacent to the Delicata Winery in Paola.
When questioned about the risks of such an investment at times of a worldwide financial crisis, the company's managing director, George Delicata, explained: "Make no mistake; I'm fully aware of the fact that these are hyper volatile times. I sympathise with those that struggle and Delicata's latest venture must be interpreted as a testimony of the company's strength as Malta's leading winemaker and its faith in the future of Maltese wines rather than the first "green shoots" of economic recovery".
Although this new build is a tall order, its purpose couldn't have been formulated more straightforward: "The new tank hall will facilitate the making of the very best Maltese DOK and IGT wines the market has ever tasted", Mr Delicata said.
Construction works are well underway and on target. The new tank farm should be completed in time to receive the grapes of the 2009 vintage at the new grape receiving bay onsite from where the carefully handled fruit will be conveyed to the automated grape crushing and pressing area before they will be turned into white, red or rosé wines in the impressive new and state of the art fermentation tanks.
The set-up is impressive, well thought out and guaranteed to accommodate all hands that are involved in the growing of the grapes and the making of the respective quality Maltese DOK and IGT wines. Mr Delicata said: "Seeing is believing, of course - that is our philosophy - so we have even integrated an accommodating catwalk and viewing gallery for the many visitors we will be hosting once the new tank farm is completed."
The new facility's footprint covers no less than 2,200 square meters and the structure is over 10 meters high incorporating an insulated rooftop, a gamut of the latest, high-tech stainless steel fermenting vessels, each one comes complete with its individual computerised cooling jackets to control the temperature very accurately during fermentation. The new facility also boasts of many health and safety features throughout.
Asked about the reason for this immense undertaking, Mr Delicata explained that the company has always pioneered and will continue to compete with confidence, especially in challenging times like these. "Immediately after Malta's accession to the EU, all protective levies were removed and wines from all over the world flooded the Islands, sometimes at ridiculously low retail prices, oft below cost.
"These wines ate into the market shares of local producers, but since then Malta's wineries have managed to claw back most of their losses. That they have managed is a testament to the quality of their produce. And, it is on the strength of this confidence in our own Maltese produce that Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker is investing in its future capacity. The future for Maltese wine is far from bleak," Mr Delicata said.
This is not to say Malta's wineries face no problems, as Mr Delicata pointed out. "On the contrary, they have to keep on fighting hard and often without much help, if any. A lot of European wine producers, on the other hand, have benefitted from payments and subsidies under CAP, the EU's agriculture support regime," he explained. "The rock bottom prices the foreign wine companies can charge are a direct result of the subsidies they have received - support that we in Malta have never benefited from."
Recently, Malta has also seen the introduction of the country's appellation system. Malta is now delimited into different winemaking regions, and there is an appellation for Malta (DOK Malta), another for Gozo (DOK Gozo) and a more general one for grapes coming from anywhere in the Maltese islands (namely and IGT Maltese islands).
This implies that all grapes and resulting wines need to be kept separate at all times from the harvest throughout to the stage of bottling. Delicata's latest project accommodates this fragmentation. The erection of the new grape receiving area and the red wine tank farm is partially a result of the fragmentation inherent to the new appellation system, which obviously results in higher production costs.
"But, this fragmentation also implies other high overheads consumers are often not aware of. The cost of Maltese grapes can be more expensive than foreign grapes, for example. The size of each tiny vineyard, of each private holding precludes the use of a lot of machinery that has become standard in other viticultural area around the world. Logically fragmentation makes the process a lot more labour intensive and grapes more costly."
The good news is that Maltese wines have definitely proved themselves over the years. "The quality is very good", Mr Delicata emphasises, while stressing that this applies across the board. "Malta's wine companies in general produce good wines, that show provenance and stand up very well to foreign competition - despite their innate higher price tag!" he said.
When asked what discerning consumers may expect of the next Maltese vintage as a result, Mr Delicata said that "All things being equal, as far as I'm concerned, the buck will not be passed on to the consumer, if that's your concern. Maltese wine lovers and the many tourists buying Delicata wines shall be guaranteed even better value for money than what Maltese wines already offer!"
A reassuring thought in these uncertain financial times.
When questioned about the risks of such an investment at times of a worldwide financial crisis, the company's managing director, George Delicata, explained: "Make no mistake; I'm fully aware of the fact that these are hyper volatile times. I sympathise with those that struggle and Delicata's latest venture must be interpreted as a testimony of the company's strength as Malta's leading winemaker and its faith in the future of Maltese wines rather than the first "green shoots" of economic recovery".
Although this new build is a tall order, its purpose couldn't have been formulated more straightforward: "The new tank hall will facilitate the making of the very best Maltese DOK and IGT wines the market has ever tasted", Mr Delicata said.
Construction works are well underway and on target. The new tank farm should be completed in time to receive the grapes of the 2009 vintage at the new grape receiving bay onsite from where the carefully handled fruit will be conveyed to the automated grape crushing and pressing area before they will be turned into white, red or rosé wines in the impressive new and state of the art fermentation tanks.
The set-up is impressive, well thought out and guaranteed to accommodate all hands that are involved in the growing of the grapes and the making of the respective quality Maltese DOK and IGT wines. Mr Delicata said: "Seeing is believing, of course - that is our philosophy - so we have even integrated an accommodating catwalk and viewing gallery for the many visitors we will be hosting once the new tank farm is completed."
The new facility's footprint covers no less than 2,200 square meters and the structure is over 10 meters high incorporating an insulated rooftop, a gamut of the latest, high-tech stainless steel fermenting vessels, each one comes complete with its individual computerised cooling jackets to control the temperature very accurately during fermentation. The new facility also boasts of many health and safety features throughout.
Asked about the reason for this immense undertaking, Mr Delicata explained that the company has always pioneered and will continue to compete with confidence, especially in challenging times like these. "Immediately after Malta's accession to the EU, all protective levies were removed and wines from all over the world flooded the Islands, sometimes at ridiculously low retail prices, oft below cost.
"These wines ate into the market shares of local producers, but since then Malta's wineries have managed to claw back most of their losses. That they have managed is a testament to the quality of their produce. And, it is on the strength of this confidence in our own Maltese produce that Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker is investing in its future capacity. The future for Maltese wine is far from bleak," Mr Delicata said.
This is not to say Malta's wineries face no problems, as Mr Delicata pointed out. "On the contrary, they have to keep on fighting hard and often without much help, if any. A lot of European wine producers, on the other hand, have benefitted from payments and subsidies under CAP, the EU's agriculture support regime," he explained. "The rock bottom prices the foreign wine companies can charge are a direct result of the subsidies they have received - support that we in Malta have never benefited from."
Recently, Malta has also seen the introduction of the country's appellation system. Malta is now delimited into different winemaking regions, and there is an appellation for Malta (DOK Malta), another for Gozo (DOK Gozo) and a more general one for grapes coming from anywhere in the Maltese islands (namely and IGT Maltese islands).
This implies that all grapes and resulting wines need to be kept separate at all times from the harvest throughout to the stage of bottling. Delicata's latest project accommodates this fragmentation. The erection of the new grape receiving area and the red wine tank farm is partially a result of the fragmentation inherent to the new appellation system, which obviously results in higher production costs.
"But, this fragmentation also implies other high overheads consumers are often not aware of. The cost of Maltese grapes can be more expensive than foreign grapes, for example. The size of each tiny vineyard, of each private holding precludes the use of a lot of machinery that has become standard in other viticultural area around the world. Logically fragmentation makes the process a lot more labour intensive and grapes more costly."
The good news is that Maltese wines have definitely proved themselves over the years. "The quality is very good", Mr Delicata emphasises, while stressing that this applies across the board. "Malta's wine companies in general produce good wines, that show provenance and stand up very well to foreign competition - despite their innate higher price tag!" he said.
When asked what discerning consumers may expect of the next Maltese vintage as a result, Mr Delicata said that "All things being equal, as far as I'm concerned, the buck will not be passed on to the consumer, if that's your concern. Maltese wine lovers and the many tourists buying Delicata wines shall be guaranteed even better value for money than what Maltese wines already offer!"
A reassuring thought in these uncertain financial times.
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