Last week the very first Malta-grown red grapes hand-harvested from the 2015 vintage rolled into the Delicata winery; not for red wine making but for rosé.

Normally, if the winemaker wants to make a robust, concentrated, full-bodied red wine out of the Maltese Merlot and Tempranillo grapes, these would be harvested in a few weeks’ time. But in this instance, he required almost the opposite.

Destemming of the Merlot grapes is done by a smart piece of customised equipment newly installed at the Delicata winery.Destemming of the Merlot grapes is done by a smart piece of customised equipment newly installed at the Delicata winery.

These grapes needed 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.

In actual fact, there is so much colour in the skins of the Maltese Merlot grapes that, even after 30 minutes of contact between the skin and the grape juice, there is enough natural colour to make a rosé-coloured wine.

These 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.

The quality of the 2015 harvested Maltese Merlot grapes this year is excellent.

After the initial inspection and accreditation, the Merlot grapes are destemmed and sorted. This is done by a smart piece of customised equipment newly installed at the Delicata winery. Whereas the old destemming machine removed the stalks centrifugally, the new machine removes the stems through a process of vibration – a much gentler and thorough process.

Additionally, this new destemmer carries out individual, grape berry selection, and the complete removal of any unwanted debris such as leaves etc – all in all a far superior, bespoke machine that applies more exacting sorting parameters that results in higher quality selected grapes.

The natural pink ‘free-run’ grape juice simply seeps from the grapes without pressing. The pure fruit juice then goes through the fermentation process in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, located in the company’s new refrigerated fermentation facility, to finally become one of Delicata’s many quality rosé wines. These are represented by the brands Pjazza Regina, Maltese Falcon, Frizzante, Medina, Victoria Heights, Dolcino and the Classic Collection.

The natural pink ‘free-run’ grape juice seeps from the grapes without pressing.The natural pink ‘free-run’ grape juice seeps from the grapes without pressing.

In the last two years Delicata has received six international medals for its rosé wines alone. Spread across a number of brands this independent accreditation highlights the quality and consistency of the company’s rosé wines. They have won a bronze medal at the 2015 London International Wine & Spirit competition for the Ġellewża Rosé Frizzante, a bronze medal the Victoria Heights Shiraz Rosé at the 2015 Drinks Business Global Rosé Masters competition, again in London, and a silver medal for the Rossini Rosé Syrah in the 2015 Challenge International du Vin in Bordeaux France.

Last year the Pjazza Regina Rosé picked up a commendation at London’s International Wine Challenge and two awards for the 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.

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