Where Wine and Science Meet
Science can be a wonderful thing, but it surely doesn’t evoke that spontaneous, emotional response which typifies how we react to the divine nectar – unless, of course, science and wine meet in your glass.
That unusual blend was presented by the Delicata winery in collaboration with sciANTific last week at their first ever Wine Science Show.
It was an insightful wine tasting event which demonstrated the hard work and passion involved in today’s winegrowing but also scientific principles that support it.
Cooled stainless steel tanks are an example of applied science in the winery
Wine is often described as an expression of the land, which reigns supreme, made with the help of a rather hands-off winemaker, who lets the grapes tell their own story.
Whilst it’s true that wine was made long before anyone could explain it, nobody can deny though that scientific research has hugely improved its overall quality.
Modern-day winemakers rely on it to underpin their rationale and actions so as how to create the best possible authentic bottle of wine from a given lot of grapes.
For their maiden Wine Science Show, 4th generation winemaker Matthew Delicata and Delicata’s seasoned viticulturist Jonathan Falzon were joined by scientist Anthony Galea.
Galea is a young science lecturer at the University of Malta and known for taking teaching beyond the classroom.
It was a lively participatory experience as Dr Anthony Galea explained scientific concepts relevant to wine in his enthusiastic and easy to understand way.
The public also got to enjoy a tasting of six boutique wines from the Delicata DOK Malta, DOK Gozo and IGT Maltese Islands selection.
The tasting part of the science show was introduced by Matthew Delicata and led by Jonathan Falzon, whom I expected to quip that, although scientific understanding is invaluable, it amounts to little without all their creativity and skill in vine and wine management.
But, the environs of vineyards and cellars are some of a winery’s most modest corners. Because, winemaking, you see, is not just science. The act of making seriously good wine requires also subjective choices that depend on the aesthetic preferences of the winemaker and intuitive choices by the people with their gumboots in the fields.
Wine is also art and art definitely humbles its practitioner.
This article by Georges Meekers was first published in the Times of Malta on 24/05/19.
