Grand Maitre 2008, Annata Fra Alof de Wignacourt, the 11th vintage of the prized Grand Maitre, produced at Marsovin’s Għajn Riħana Estate, was released on Tuesday.

The estate spans an area of 1.6 hectares, between Bidnija hills and Wardija in the north of Malta. The vineyard is densely planted with 14,000 vines of two noble French grape varieties, made up of equal quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The arid land and clay-rich, calcareous soil provide a tough growing environment for these vines. The yields from this estate are therefore low and generally produce very concentrated full bodied wines of intense fruit and aromatic character. Following vinification, the unfiltered wine is aged in new oak barriques for over 12 months in the Marsovin cellars prior to bottling.

The French Alof de Wignacourt, an art enthusiast, succeeded Fra Martin Garzes and was elected Grand Master in 1601, determined to enhance the prestige of the Order and its new post-siege capital, Valletta.

Grand Maitre is a wine dedicated by Marsovin to the Grand Masters of Malta by special appointment to the Maltese Association Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Each vintage is dedicated to a different Grand Master in chronological order, the first one being Philippe Villiers de L’Isle Adam for the 1998 vintage. The label itself is made out of pewter with an embossed design, which includes the coat of arms of that year’s Grand Master.

The 2008 vintage, contrary to the previous year, was characterised by relatively cooler winter temperatures and exceptionally wet weather with the January precipitation reaching a record 230.5mm. These conditions resulted in an average yield of deeply coloured small berries, which produced a well structured and very concentrated full bodied wine characterised by its typical intense fruity bouquet and velvety smooth tannins.

Grand Maitre is available in wooden boxes of six and three bottles and, from this year, single bottles are being offered in an exclusively designed complimentary presentation box.

A limited quantity of old vintages may also be bought from our cellars and details on the ageing potential, as well as the tasting notes compiled by Marsovin experts are available at www.marsovin.com.

For more information write to cellars@marsovin.com.mt or call 2366 2401.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.