Vintner sees good year for Maltese wine

The time is due for what is quickly becoming one of the main wine connoisseur's events of the year - The Delicata Classic Wine Festival, providing wine drinkers with the chance to savour a wide variety of Maltese wines in a stunning location overlooking Grand Harbour in Valletta from August 6 - 8.

The festival will be held in the recently refurbished Upper Barrakka gardens where the live entertainment bill will include George Curmi, Steve Cole, Paul Abela, Spiteri Lucas and their bands.

Delicata Winemaker managing director George Delicata told a news conference the festival was more important than ever this year since the prices of foreign wines plummeted after Malta joined the EU, making local wine producers face stiffer competition price-wise. He noted that this year would be a good one for Maltese wine because the rain was sufficient and the vines suffered no diseases.

The festival will be starting at the beginning of the grape harvest, the first one in Europe thanks to Malta's warm weather.

The wine at the festival will be exclusively Maltese, featuring two indigenous Maltese varieties, the Girgentina and the Gellewza.

The wine will be complemented by a wide range of international food, including Maltese seafood kebabs, French steak with pepper sauce and Chinese sweet and sour pork.

The event, described as one of the most important cultural events in Valletta by mayor Paul Borg Olivier, is one of the many cultural events happening this summer in Valletta, turning it into a city for all seasons.

In Gozo, the festival will be held in Nadur on August 28-29.