On Tuesday morning, at 6am, the very first grapes from this year’s harvest started to arrive at the Delicata winery.

As Delicata growers lined up to have their grapes weighed and appraised, each batch was checked for its overall quality, yield conformity and natural sugar levels to ensure that they were in compliance with QWPSR legislation.

The first pressing at the Delicata state-of-the-art winery on Marsa waterfront were IGT quality Chardonnay grapes from various family-owned vineyards. All of the grapes were hand-picked just hours before and the first day’s pressing amounted to approximately 20,000 kilos. The following day saw the first arrival of approximately 18,000 kilos of DOK Malta 2014 Sauvignon Blanc, and another 17,000 kilos of Chardonnay grapes were pressed yesterday, followed by more DOK Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes today.

The quality of this year’s grapes is very good, with slightly higher natural sugar levels than last year. They also have a good level of acidity as a result of the cooler-than-average July weather.

The Delicata growers’ grapes are also disease-free, thanks to viticultural steps introduced earlier in the year by the company’s viticulturists.