A group of journalists from Germany recently visited Malta and during their 5 day stay at the Corinthia Palace hotel, Delicata selected and sponsored their wine.
The aim of the exercise was to introduce the journalists to as many quality Maltese and Gozitan wines as possible, spread across the 5 dinners they would be eating during their stay.
With a different wine chosen to accompany every starter, main course and dessert, this meant that the journalists went away from Malta with the experience of trying 15 different D.O.K. and I.G.T.wines. The comments below from the organizer, not only speak for themselves, but prompted me to write this article extolling the virtues of Maltese wine and their under utilization when it comes to visiting diners and their Maltese culinary experience.
“The journalists have gone and I want to thank you very much in the name of the group. We enjoyed very much this special way of "wine tasting". I can assure you that a group of German Journalists now associates Maltese Wines with Delicata and it associates top quality wines also with Delicata. The wines were fitting perfectly to the menus in the beautiful ambience of the Palace. So with Delicata also the culinary aspect of this media tour was a big success. Thanks so much” wrote Livia Rota.
This last sentence is something that I think highlights the way, that when used properly, Maltese wine can enhance the total culinary experience for a visiting diner, something too many people in our hospitality, tourism and diplomatic services sometimes underestimate.
For many of our European neighbours, especially the ones from non-wine making countries with cooler climates, wine drinking plays a crucial role in their holiday expectations. And if you don’t believe me, just watch some of those ‘buying properties overseas’ and holiday programmes on cable TV and see how many peoples idea of a perfect holiday / home is to have somewhere to ‘sit and drink a bottle of wine’. The whole eating and drinking aspect of a holiday is as important, if not more too many, than the sea, sand and sunshine! Our farming community and our winemakers have worked so hard and invested so much to produce the high quality of wines we now proudly have.
So why not promote our wines when we can and give our visitors what they want, authentic, home grown, unique, quality Maltese and Gozitan wine, which more often than not they are quite prepared to pay for.
I have witnessed so many missed opportunities over the years, not only to show off our truly unique, diverse and good wines, but to raise the whole culinary experience of these important visitors, who would in turn go back to their countries and become verbal ambassadors for the great Maltese food and wine they had during their stay.
Unfortunately, more often than not, our visitors, who are often seasoned travellers (and therefore by definition seasoned diners), are given the cheapest ‘house wine’ that can be purchased and of course then go away from Malta with completely the wrong perception of what Maltese winemakers can produce. And people can tell the difference and are prepared to pay for quality, if they are given the opportunity, not everyone granted, but the wine lovers, yes!
If people were not prepared to pay for quality, why would people book into a 5 star hotel when they could settle for a 2 star or eat prime beef when they could have cube roll?
This country has a whole wealth of quality wines that the majority of the worlds wine consumers will never get to drink. I think we owe it to them and to our local farmers and winemakers to at least let them try them during their sometimes brief visit to our islands and then we might get more comments like above and the welcome praise and recognition the wine industry so deserves.
NOUVEAU WINE & PUSE - 8 DAYS AWAY.
The first 2010 vintage D.O.K. wines will be available for drinking ‘straight from the tank’ in just 8 days time, at Delicata’s ‘November Nouveau Night’. Diners, who will be seated in the winemaker’s fermentation hall, will be able to enjoy a sumptuous 4 course meal with free flowing wines whilst being serenaded by Malta’s top violinist George Curmi, better known locally as Puse. There are seats still available at this unique event, but with only one week to go, they are filling up quickly.
The wines that will be served on the Saturday night (27th), which cannot officially be released from the winery until January 2011, will be the white 2010 Vermentino Zibibbo D.O.K. Malta blend which will eventually be in the Medina range. A rose blend of 2010 Grenache and Gellewza grapes which will be an I.G.T. Pjazza Regina and a full bodied red 2010 D.O.K. Malta Syrah which will ultimately go into French barriques for one year to become Gran Cavalier. In addition to this, dessert will be accompanied by the company’s popular sweet wine, Casella Moscato.