Delicata has announced the laureates of the winery's Bettija'rt | wine.art.living barrel art exhibition and contest, organised in association with Is-Suq tal-Belt | Valletta Food Market.

On behalf of the supercentenarian Delicata winery, which was established in 1907, director Mario Delicata presented the four winners with honours, cash and other prizes, and a boxed double magnum of Delicata's flagship Gran Cavalier Syrah wine to each participant.

The jury of professional art connoisseurs Anna Grima, Mariella Pisani Bencini and Kevin Casha, and senior winery representative Georges Meekers awarded the 2019 Bettija'rt Grand Prize to David Xuereb for his installation entitled 'The Creation' and the Runner-Up Award to Donald Camilleri for his barrel painting 'An Improbable Toast'.

The winner of the Bettija'rt Community Vote Award, decided by online public voting, went to Francis Galea for his piece 'Romantic Journey of Art and Wine 1907 - 2019' with 23% of all unique votes.

A Special Mention was credited to Zack Ritchie for his artwork 'The Vessel of Joy', whilst artist-finalists Claire Attard Vella, Joseph Barbara, Carmel Bonello, Priscilla Gatt, Sara Pace and Caroline Said Lawrence received the Bettija'rt Certificate of Merit.

The inaugural Bettija'rt exhibition was staged for over four weeks at the iconic Is-Suq tal-Belt | Valletta Food Market, represented at the prize giving ceremony by Antoine Portelli, COO of Arkadia Marketing Ltd, part of the Mizzi Organisation.

The winery's Bettija'rt initiative aims to bring the local arts, Malta's best wines and their enjoyment into everyone's daily life. Ten local artists were chosen to transform a decommissioned wine barrel into an artwork.

The Bettija'rt exhibition is one of several benevolent initiatives that form part of the winery's give-back campaign as Delicata shares 112 years of winemaking with the Maltese community.

The ten exhibits also remain virtually accessible on the Delicata website www.delicata.com.