It gives me great pleasure to announce in my last wine article in the Times of Malta after 17 years Delicata’s medal win at the 2015 Emozioni dal Mondo Merlot e Cabernet Insieme international wine competition held in Bergamo last weekend.
The panel of judges was made up of oenologists, oenotechnicians, sensorialists, professional tasters and oenogastronomic journalists from 24 different countries. According to the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) regulations, only 30 per cent of the samples submitted can be awarded a medal and, to win gold, a wine must be awarded between 85 and 100 points. Wines from 17 different winemaking countries participated in this year’s competition.
Three gold medals were awarded to three of Delicata’s red wines as well as a Premio Della Stampa (press prize).Two of the gold medals were awarded to the company’s premium flagship reds, 2014 Gran Cavalier barrel matured Merlot DOK Superior Malta and the 2014 Grand Vin de Hauteville Cabernet Sauvignon DOK Superior Malta.
The third gold was awarded to the 2014 Classic Collection Marenzio Merlot IGT Maltese Islands.
The 2014 Gran Cavalier Merlot was also awarded the Premio della Stampa, a special award commended by a select commission of wine journalists to the highest scoring wine from each country.
The competition looks only at wines made from the three red grape varieties, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
The competition, which celebrated its 11th anniversary, looks only at wines made from the three red grape varieties, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
Delicata won alongside other prestigious gold medal-winning producers such as the famed Italian Chianti winemaker Tenuta Vicchiomaggio in Tuscany, Chilean winemaker from the Maipo Valley, Laroche, and French winemaker Grand Encios du Château de Cerons from the Graves region of Bordeaux.
This year’s competition was organised by the Vignaioli Bergamaschi SCA with the sponsorship of the OIV and the authorisation of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, with the scientific collaboration of the Interuniversity Centre for Winegrowing and Enology of Verona, the Degree in Winemaking and Enology at the University of Udine, the Winegrowing Institute of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Piacenza and the Wine Tasters Study Centre.
Earlier this year, Delicata achieved a noteworthy milestone in its long history, by being awarded over 100 international wine awards (1995-2015).
These latest gold medals bring Delicata’s total international wine award count up to an impressive 110 awards, with 26 of these awards (six gold, two silver, nine bronze, eight commendations and a press award) being won in the last two years alone, all under the stewardship of Matthew Delicata, the company’s winemaker.
The complete list of 110 awards and the wines accredited is availbale at http://delicata.com/ awards or www.facebook.com/DelicataWinery.