Wine is one of the oldest beverages known to man. Archaeologists date its origins to the Neolithic period, yet it was only during ancient Roman times that it was diffused and consumed widely by different peoples and classes.
We know for certain that during British times, local wine was produced in small quantities, although most of the wine consumed was imported.
Malta was no exception and it also had its fare share in the production and distribution of Roman wine.
However, it is only recently that Malta became a fully-fledged wine producer. During the time of the Knights, Malta, a country where cotton cultivation was predominant, imported most of its wine from other Southern European countries, especially from Sicily.
The British brought with them their love for beer, but the production and consumption of wine did not stop. Imported wine of various categories and types was sold to drinking shops where the men usually had their fill. Most of the wine consumed in these shops was of a cheap quality and only the more prosperous classes could afford expensive and good quality wine.
Wine was sold to these drinking dens by merchants, who delivered it on carts driven by horse, donkey or mule. It was stored in wooden barrels and shop owners used to collect it in a glass container called a tramunġana. Women also used to buy wine from these shops to take it back home.
We know for certain that during British times, local wine was produced in small quantities, although most of the wine consumed was imported. Indigenous wine was mainly produced from two grapes, these being the girgentina and ġellewża. From the few sources we have available on the subject, we are aware of the fact that local wine wasn’t any good and much of it was ‘artificial’.
The Delicata family carries with it the oldest history of wine making in Malta. The family’s business has survived the test of time and today stands as one of the largest local wine-makers alongside Marsovin, which is owned by the Cassar family.
V. George Delicata, the grandson of the Delicata founder, tells me that the business has very humble origins. In 1907, Eduardo Delicata started buying grapes from local farmers and fuelled by a sensible entrepreneurial spirit, started selling his own wine, which he made in very difficult conditions. His first clients were friends and close acquaintances.
It was then George Delicata’s father, Emmanuel who pioneered the expansion of the company. Born in 1916, Emmanuel Delicata took over the family business at a young age, yet he was determined to make greater success than his father. From the small-scale wine-making factory at Jetties Wharf, Emmanuel Delicata moved the business to larger premises in Coal Wharf in 1965, during the time when local and foreign businesses could undertake bigger financial and investment risks thanks to the Aids to Industries scheme, although Delicata claims that the company never subscribed to the scheme. Lachryma Vitis, Green and Red Label were a huge success for the company.
Former Chairman and Director of Marsovin Anthony Cassar, goes into very particular details while telling me the story of his family business. His grandfather, also named Anthony Cassar, was born in a family of merchants. He bought a wide range of food products from local importers such as cheese, olives, anchovies and salted products. Then in 1917, he began buying wine from Malta’s two major wine importers, these being Coleiro and Dacoutros, who was known as Ġanni l-Grieg.
However, Cassar went a step further and after making gradual success in his wine-selling business, he started producing his own wine. His business was a success ever since, but it was during World War II that Cassar made good profits and was then able to further invest and rapidly expand his business. During the war his business became more successful than ever – however, at the time, the secret to Cassar’s success was not wine. After having experienced the food shortage during World War I, he became aware of the business potential such a situation could create and hence began storing large amounts of food. When World War II broke out, he was well-stocked and as Malta suffered a grave food shortage and food prices skyrocketed, Cassar become rich very quickly.
After the war, Cassar had enough capital to keep expanding and become one of Malta’s leading wine-producers. As he wanted to keep focusing mainly on the food trade, it was his one and only son who passionately took over the wine-business and pioneered the creation of Marsovin in 1956.
His son Anthony Cassar tells me that his father had introduced glass bottles during the 1950s for hygienic reasons. As wine was sold in bulk from barrels, the level of hygiene wasn’t very good. Cassar also confirms that during those times most of the wines which were sold were of a cheap quality and he also admits that sometimes, wines were also mixed with water and other liquids so as to generate more profit.
Nonetheless, Cassar tells me that there was a worse form of locally-produced alcoholic drink than bad wine and this was lampik, which roughly translates as ‘distiller’. Cassar tells me that lampik in Malta was also a reference to alcohol made from potatoes and it was very bad to one’s health, at times even causing the death of its ignorant consumer.
One can conclude that although Malta had a fare share of wine history, this history is not rich in taste. Many years had to pass until Marsovin and Delicata could successfully boast about their good quality wine. Now that the days of protectionism and import-restrictions are long gone, the Maltese people have access to a wide variety of different international wines, but local producers, even small ones, still seem to be competing with confidence.