The 2014 vintage Syrah grapes have been harvested early for rosé wine production.

Last week, the very first Malta-grown red grapes hand-harvested from the 2014 vintage rolled into the Delicata winery, not for red wine- making, but for rosé.

Normally the Maltese Syrah grapes would be harvested in a few weeks’ time – if the winemaker wants to make a robust, concentrated, full-bodied red wine out of them. But in this instance, he requires almost the opposite.

The Syrah grapes grown for Delicata need to produce a fruity, crisp, easy drinking rosé wine, with just enough colour from the skins (without the tannins) to achieve the pinkish colour the winemaker desires.

There is actually so much colour in the skins of the Maltese Syrah grapes that even 30 minutes of contact between the skin and the grape juice will extract enough natural colour to make a rosé-coloured wine.

These particular Syrah grapes were hand-picked while the grapes’ natural acidity was still high enough to make the style of rosé wine required, but at the same time having enough natural sugar in the ripened grapes to achieve the desired level of alcohol.

Pure unpressed fruit juice runs freely from the grapes.

On the right, one can see the quality of a typical bunch of perfect, disease-free Syrah grapes, which have just gone through the very initial stages of DOK inspection and accreditation. The second picture shows the raw, pink-coloured, free-run grape juice that has seeped from the grapes without pressing. This pure fruit juice then goes through the fermentation process in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks and finally becomes one of Delicata’s rosé quality wines.

The winemaker’s ever expanding range of Malta-grown rosé wines are represented in the brands Pjazza Regina, Maltese Falcon, Frizzante, Medina, Victoria Heights and the recent addition, Rossini Syrah.

This year Delicata received three international awards for its rosé wines: a Commendation at the London International Wine Challenge for the 2013 Pjazza Regina Syrah Carignan and two awards for its 2013 Medina Rosé Grenache ­– a Commendation at the Decanter World Wine Awards and a Bronze medal at the International Wine Challenge du Vin held in Bordeaux, France.