As the second week of pressing wraps up at the Delicata family winery, two more grape varieties are safely ‘tucked away’ in fermentation tanks; or some of them at least.

Whereas last week some of the Maltese Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties were pressed, this week saw the pressing of the first of two lesser-known white Malta-grown grape varieties, Moscato and Viognier.

The first batch of hand-picked DOK Malta Moscato grapes that was pressed came from small individual vineyards across Malta and weighed in at about 19,000 kilos. Once fermented (eventually into a liqueur wine with 15 per cent alcohol), this will go into Delicata’s award-winning Grand Vin de Hauteville Moscato. This wine won a Bronze medal at this year’s Challenge International du Vin, in Bordeaux, France.

The pressing of the Moscato was followed by a small pressing of about 10,000 kilos of IGT Maltese Islands Viognier grapes which came from a vineyard outside Żabbar. These IGT grapes will be fermented on their own and eventually blended with Chardonnay, Girgentina or Vermentino (or all three) for the 2013 vintage Pjazza Regina White. The DOK Malta Viognier that goes into the Grand Vin de Hauteville Viognier will remain on the vines for a short while longer.

Viognier grapes are a little more compact and the berries slightly greener than the Moscato grapes, which are yellower, looser and often larger in size.

The berries taste completely different on the palate, as do the resulting wines, of course. The Viognier grapes are sweet and fruity with a crisp acidity whereas the Moscato is also sweet and fruity, but is lower in acidity and the juice is very perfumed and aromatic.

Towards the end of this week, about 30,000 kilos of early hand-harvested Maltese Syrah (Shiraz) grapes were also pressed, but exclusively for rosé wine production.

Next week the white Maltese Vermentino grapes, among others, will be harvested and pressed at the Delicata winery as the third week of pressing gets under way.