Assyrtiko de France First published in the Wine Campus Journal 23 August 2026 We’ve reached the day when a Frenchman is advising another Frenchman to plant Assyrtiko. A generation ago, that sentence would have sounded absurd. France has spent centuries teaching the world about wine. Greece, despite its ancient wine culture, has more often looked … Read More
Recently, Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes was quoted saying that the unusual prolonged dry weather this year has not only caused a smaller than average grape crop but unfortunately even ruined several grape vine plants. His announcement of future government assistance in the replanting of vines and in particular the indigenous Girgentina and Ġellewża varieties seems … Read More
Malta’s vineyards are spattered with brightly-coloured dots in new shades of yellow and red hues peeping through leafy vine canopies ready to have their ripe crop picked. The vivid transformation from small green berries to fully-coloured grapes known as veraison (and pronounced ‘VEH-ray-zoh’) has come to an end. Adopted into English use, veraison is originally a French viticultural term meaning ‘the onset of grape ripening’ … Read More
Just say ‘Girgentina’. The soft sibilance, the internal alliteration, the jovial completion, whether you give it the sharp English pronunciation or slowly ease off the word in Maltese, it’s a sound suggestive of heritage and, of course, wine.