Delicata’s Harvest Quality Cause for Optimism
A feeling of optimism prevails in the cellars of the Delicata winery now that the entire crop of the 2017 grape harvest is picked and safely in tank. Whilst the cumulative impact of two successive years of harsh weather conditions have kept the heft of the crop per hectare of most varieties on the low […]
Delicata Lifelong Learning
Winemaker and head of viticulture, Matthew Delicata accompanied the winery’s viticulturist Jonathan Falzon and vineyard hand John Grima on their second visit to the ‘Italian School of Vine Pruning’ founded by long-time viticulturists Marco Simonit and Pierpaolo Sirch. This time they participated in master classes about green pruning whereas in December the lessons delivered by […]
Support for Our Heritage Vines
Recently, Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes was quoted saying that the unusual prolonged dry weather this year has not only caused a smaller than average grape crop but unfortunately even ruined several grape vine plants. His announcement of future government assistance in the replanting of vines and in particular the indigenous Girgentina and Ġellewża varieties seems […]
Grasping Girgentina
Just say ‘Girgentina’. The soft sibilance, the internal alliteration, the jovial completion, whether you give it the sharp English pronunciation or slowly ease off the word in Maltese, it’s a sound suggestive of heritage and, of course, wine. Nobody knows for sure where the name of Malta’s very own green-skinned grape variety comes from. It […]
Robots and Precision Viticulture
Soon enough vignerons will be assisted by intelligent machines that autonomously roam their vineyards in similar fashion to the Mars Rover or Star Wars’ R2D2. Robots will measure the condition of the vines and grapes and tell the grower which vine needs special TLC. Today the use of robotics in viticulture may still be at […]
