The 2012 grape pressing got underway at the Delicata winery two days ago as the first DOK Malta Chardonnay grapes were delivered. Over 350 growers will deliver nearly one million kilos of Malta-grown and Gozo-grown grapes from 20 different varieties to Delicata over the coming weeks.

Following is a step-by-step description of the process with accompanying pictures.

Step 1: Growers deliver potential DOK Malta Chardonnay 2012 vintage grapes to the Delicata winery for weighing and inspection. Each grower’s grapes are tested by an independent government inspector to check that permitted yield parameters are adhered to and that the grapes’ natural sugar content falls within the DOK protocols.

Step 2: Once approved, the DOK Malta classified Chardonnay grapes are emptied into a stainless steel hopper, where an Archimedes screw conveys them into a de-stemmer. This will automatically remove the stems and lightly break the grapes before they pass through chilling pipes and go into the soft pneumatic Willmes press.

Step 3: Once the press is full, the grapes at the bottom release free-run juice before a soft computerised pressing takes place to release even more juice, leaving the skins and pips behind. The discarded stems, pips and grape skins are then conveyed to a truck and are immediately transported back to the farmers, to be used as animal fodder or fertiliser.

Step 4: The non-alcoholic Chardonnay juice, known as “must”, is then piped into one of many computerised, temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats where it will go through its natural fermentation process and evolve into a dry white Chardonnay DOK Malta wine, which will eventually become Medina Chardonnay or, after barrel maturation, the Grand vin de Hauteville Chardonnay.