Although the yield of the crop seems to be small, the progression and quality of Delicata’s 2021 grape harvest seems promising.

At the Delicata winery, this year’s crush commenced on August 3 with the arrival of the first lots of early maturing Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grapes. The crushing of about 20 different varieties will go on for several weeks until the end of September when the endemic Girgentina and the Ġellewża grapes are typically collected.

Delicata works hand in glove with around 200 affiliated Maltese and Gozitan grape growers and their families for the supply of quality grapes for the winery’s assortment of award-winning Maltese wines.

The viticultural year has so far been characterised by few adversities for vine growth other than a dry winter and an exceptionally persistent June heatwave, which thankfully had no qualitative impact on the final crop since it hit just before the onset of ripening.

Bud burst came slightly early and was even, with the first buds breaking in the third week of February. 

The Chardonnay variety flowered first, towards the end of April, and the spring weather continued to be dry and conducive to overall vine and grape sanitary health. Grape fungal diseases such as Downey mildew and Botrytis were rare and mitigated when needed.

By the end of May, Delicata’s vignerons completed green pruning. As a result, disease pressure was further minimised and penetration of sunlight for photosynthesis and bud fertility enhanced. Grape ripening conditions so far have been near ideal in the absence of much wind-burn. 

However, the size of this year’s crop is expected to remain generally low for the international varieties, because of the below- average amounts of rainfall combined with an average vine age of 17 years and a high plant density.

All eyes are on the weather throughout August and September now. The final overall grape quality will also depend on temperature variations between day and night in the coming days and weeks, which are ideally relatively high so as to maintain higher concentration of aromas and grape acidities needed to produce fresh white and more balanced red wines.