I took great pleasure reading the article “A Champion for wine” (FIRST Magazine, 16 March). I agree with several points made by Mario Delicata, especially the fact that wine consumption in EU countries has fallen significantly. I also agree that this affected mostly Table Wines and that the consumption of QWPSR (Quality Wines Produced in a Specific Region) wines is growing.

What I cannot quite figure out, however, is how can Mr Delicata declare that “as wine makers our ‘holy grail’ is to be able to produce all our wines from Malta-grown grapes,” and that at the moment they don’t have enough grapes to do this. I would like to inform Mr Delicata that as long as Emmanuel Delicata Ltd persists in its strategy of shunning local farmers, not only will his company not have enough Malta-grown grapes, but it will keep losing this raw material like it did in the last harvest with the ridiculous low prices it determined.

Maybe someone ought to open this company’s eyes and make it realise that to have Malta-grown grapes it must first and foremost learn to recognise Maltese vine growers and honour the numerous existing contracts it made with them, not unilaterally deciding to cut the price negotiated for grapes by half and losing half of its farmers in the process. Furthermore, this company must respect the Maltese vine growers’ opinion and acknowledge the fact that today they have established their own association (The Maltese Viticultural Society) and understand that no steps should be undertaken prior to discussions with their representatives.

How can this company ever aspire to produce all its wines from locally grown grapes when it is not even capable of communicating with the people producing these grapes? In today’s times no sector can ever make any progress without the first necessary exchange of ideas with all entities involved, so that all decisions taken are based on the requirements of the whole sector.

I also cannot get the picture how Mr Delicata can comment on the DOK and IGT classifications introduced in Malta and praise these systems when, at the same time, Emmanuel Delicata Winery is not respecting the current legislations and is inflicting damage on all entities involved in the sector. Mr Delicata is surely aware that EU legislation states that all wines produced from grapes harvested in countries other than Malta must be classified as Table Wine and cannot indicate the variety of grape used and the harvest year on the label.

These indications are only permitted to be displayed on labels of quality wines produced from locally grown grapes, thus helping the consumer to define better between quality wines produced from locally grown grapes and other wines produced from grapes harvested in other countries.

Yet, in spite of all Mr Delicata’s comments and praise on the Maltese wine classification system introduced recently, Emmanuel Delicata Winery has already placed on the market four different wines produced from grapes harvested in Italy with the grape variety and harvest year printed on its label, a clear breach of the law perpetrated in order to cover up the scandalous blunder the company made with the farming community. This is misleading the consumer into thinking that these wines were produced from Maltese grapes, surely unacceptable at a time when the sector is in the process of winning back the consumer’s trust.

Mr Delicata said he has the impression that a lot of cheap foreign wine is being dumped on our shores, and I fully share his opinion. He added that nowadays local wineries have only about 50 per cent of the local market, a significant decrease compared to the 90 per cent before accession. But I ask, “Will this strategy of not abiding by EU legislation and misleading the consumer help Emmanuel Delicata Winery conquer foreign competition and increase the percentage of sales in the local market?”

It is clear that by producing wines from lower quality grapes harvested in other countries and obtained at cheaper prices, this company is presenting a Table Wine product. However, by indicating the variety and harvest year on its label it misleads the consumer into thinking that it is a wine produced from Maltese grapes, like an IGT wine. If the consumer buys cheap foreign wine, produced and labelled according to all legislations, at least he/she knows what he/she is paying for, but these four wines in question are evidently damaging the reputation of the Maltese wine industry as a whole and this supersedes by far the damage inflicted in the local market by foreign cheap wines.

Emmanuel Delicata Winery must decide that if it wants to produce quality wines, displaying the variety used and harvest year on the label, it must use Maltese grapes and submit to

the national certification process; wines containing foreign grapes must be classified as Table Wines, and must fully adhere to all relevant labelling legislation.

Mr Delicata’s words were, “The advent of the DOK system is a laudable milestone for the Maltese wine industry and will possibly bestow Maltese wines deservingly with more consumer trust.” Again I fully agree with him and confirm that both Maltese wineries and The Maltese Viticultural Society have invested heavily in this sector and are doing everything possible to promote the Maltese product. The DOK system by itself will never help gain consumer trust for Maltese wines, it must also have the genuine operation of all entities involved. So in this case I encourage Emmanuel Delicata Winery to change its strategy and produce genuinely labelled wines, as its current short-sighted strategy is going to lead to loss of credibility in the local wine sector, damaging the reputation of all entities involved.

We, The Maltese Viticul-

tural Society, are doing all we can to help all Maltese wineries promote their Maltese quality wines, but we are never going to permit any winemaker to open the door to abuse that will be the cause of the collapse of this much beloved sector. I expect the relevant authorities that have been set up to monitor the local wine industry to focus on such blatant infringements of EU regulations and take immediate steps to rectify the situation.

Gerald Vella

Executive Officer

Maltese Viticultural Society

SIGGIEWI