HACCP in the winery

January 23, 2018By Georges MeekersFood Safety, Tips, Wine
Winemaking  may not be rocket science, but the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system, or HACCP, originally designed to protect  astronauts from food poisoning, has slowly become an important safety standard for the wine industry. In the past, it could be said that attention to detail, cleanliness and experience were enough for most wineries [...]

Support our heritage vines

September 28, 2016By Georges MeekersGrapes, Malta, Wine

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

Veraison: grapes in full colour

August 5, 2016By Georges MeekersGastronomy, Wine

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

Grasping Girgentina

July 22, 2016By Georges MeekersGastronomy, Wine

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.

Wine hacks for summer salads

June 26, 2016By Georges MeekersGastronomy, Wine

As a wine lover you may not be overly keen on a summer diet of salads for the simple reason that many a bowl of greens is often pretty unfriendly to your favourite drink. Luckily there are some hacks to appease the confrontation between tossed vegetables and the divine nectar.