Marsovin, the island’s largest winemakers, are facing another poor harvest after a year of low rainfall and blazing heatwaves.
CEO Jeremy Cassar said the vineyard was expecting only a small increase from its international varietials compared to last year, when yield fell around 25 per cent after a record-breaking dry spell.
Without urgent measures to incentivise production, certified Maltese wine will not be available as it has in previous years
Yield from the indigenous Girgentina and Ġellewza varieties, however, have declined even further this year, following a year in which more than a third of vines were lost to the poor weather.
“Demand is up, but without urgent measures to incentivise production, certified Maltese wine will not be available as it has in previous years,” Mr Cassar said during a press conference earlier today.
Some 380 millimetres of rain have fallen since last September, a small increase on last year but a far cry from the 540mm yearly average for the island. Moreover, just 40mm of this year’s rainfall came after February, the vine’s vegetative period, with most concentrated in the dormant period.
Mr Cassar said the heatwaves of the past three months had exacerbated the situation, drying up a large part of the foliage and shrivelling whole bunches of grapes exposed to direct sunlight, particularly in the case of the non-irrigated indigenous varieties.
News of another poor harvest comes after Delicata winemakers expressed similar fears, with managing director George Delicata telling the Times of Malta: “We will soon be running out of wine.”
Read: ‘We will soon be running out of wine’
Similar problems have been felt elsewhere in Europe this year, with Italian winemakers predicting a yield 10 to 15 per cent lower than usual after a dry winter and the effects of the so-called summer heatwave Lucifer.
The heatwaves of the past three months had exacerbated the situation, drying up a large part of the foliage and shrivelling whole bunches of grapes exposed to direct sunlight
In Malta, the concern among winemakers is particularly pronounced due to the cumulative impact of two successive years of harsh weather conditions and poor harvests.
Marsovin CEO Mr Cassar said there was an urgent need to invest in replanting of local vines, which died sooner when exposed to stressful weather conditions. EU funding for the project was being explored, but discussions with government had been delayed by the general election, he said.
He expressed serious concerns over the average age of local farmers, now around 55, with very few young people taking an interest in farming.
With winemakers requiring 10 to 20 tumuli of vineyards to run a viable operation, he said it was imperative, to attract new blood, that young farmers were given the opportunity to work sizable fields and benefit from a decent income.
Marsovin, Mr Cassar added, had been doing its best to motivate growers and keep the sector alive, and had been increasing grape prices for the past three years, with a 6.5 per cent average increase this year alone.