Government aiming to treble land used for winegrowing

The agriculture ministry is aiming to treble the amount of land used for winegrowing by 2014, Agriculture Minister Ninu Zammit said yesterday.

Mr Zammit said the financial schemes recently launched by the government were intended to wean the island off the dependence on imported grapes by increasing the cultivation of local crops.

He said it was intended to gradually increase the wine-growing area from 320 hectares to 1,104 hectares.

Mr Zammit was speaking during a visit to Marsovin's Ghajn Rihana Estate in Burmarrad where company chairman Tony Cassar gave him a tour of 11 tumoli of land as 65 people gathered to pick grapes.

The grapes picked yesterday are for the premium wine Grand Maitre Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, which will be on the market in 2004.

Marsovin group of companies marketing head Jeremy Cassar said that Grand Maitre was launched three years ago and each year the bottle was dedicated to a different grandmaster.

About 3,000 to 6,000 bottles of Grand Maitre are produced each year and these are often sold before they make it to the market shelves.

Though Grand Maitre is the Marsovin wine most in demand, the Cheval Franc sells the most in terms of quantity, he said.

Yesterday, guests were able to get a sneak preview of the Grand Maitre of 2000, which will be launched in October, as well as sample the produce of 2001 which will hit the market next year.

During the tour, Mr Cassar said that Marsovin was working hand-in-hand with growers to produce quality Maltese grapes.

Marsovin uses growers' land, while offering its expertise and guaranteeing the purchase of a crop year in year out.

"It is important for growers to understand the collaboration with local wineries and to follow the instructions to obtain the optimum quality product," he said.

"The winery knows the demand in the market for wines, so it can offer hands-on advice as to the grape varieties which should be grown," he continued.

Marsovin owns five estates in Ghajn Rihana, Wardija, St Paul's Bay, Marnisi Estate in Marsaxlokk and the Ramla Valley Estate in Gozo.

Mr Cassar said the company's target was to produce six premium wines from five vineyards, mainly the Antonin Red and the Antonin Blanc, Cheval Blanc, Cassar De Malte, Marnisi and the Grand Maitre.

Last year, Marsovin pressed over 4,000 tons of grapes, which represents 67 per cent of all the grapes pressed in Malta last year. The majority of grapes, 2,025 tons, were white.

Speaking of this year's harvest, Mr Cassar said that although they had slightly lower yields than last year, it was nevertheless of better quality.

Mr Cassar also welcomed and strongly encouraged the introduction of documentation being requested by the Department of Agriculture for the process of keeping track of the total yield of grapes and wine produced by all the wineries.

He also stressed the importance of the government enforcing the law so as to safeguard consumers and ensure there is a level playing field between producers and importers.

On this, Mr Zammit said that new regulations were being drawn up on quality wines produced in specific regions, or those better known as Denomination of Controlled Origin wines.

These regulations, which would be in place by the end of this year, would also deal with labelling and the definition of the products derived from grapes.

Mr Zammit said the government was also working to reduce the existing difficulties many faced when trying to obtain a permit for the development of new vineyards.

He also referred to the twinning agreement with Italy and said that in October an Italian consultant would be coming to Malta for a year to give advice on the development of viticulture in Malta.

Other experts were also expected to come to Malta as part of this agreement, to tackle issues such as the DNA analysis of the local variety of grapes, the use of pesticides and irrigation.

Mr Zammit also pointed out that over a period of 14 years, the government had approved a budget of Lm7.3 million in aid for the production of wine and to strengthen the sector.