Top 100 sweet wines of Malta

Discovering the wine region of Malta

Malta is a small island (25 miles / 40m Long) located in the CentralTurkey/mediterranean">Mediterranean Sea, 80 km South of Sicily. Wine growing on the island dates back to the early 16th century, when the Knights of St. John of Israel/judean-hills/jerusalem">Jerusalem (or Knights Hospitallers) arrived on the island, bringing with them centuries of wine-making tradition that accompanied them from Jerusalem (in present-day Israel) to Cyprus, via Turkey and Rhodes. In the early 19th century, the arrival of British ships (merchant and military) in Malta led to a decline in the island's wine production.

This was a departure from the precedent set in Porto, Jerez, Madeira and Italy/sicily/marsala">Marsala, all of which experienced a significant increase in their export-oriented viticulture. Many of Malta's vineyards and olive groves were uprooted in favour of cotton, a popular crop at the time. Within a century, however, the pendulum swung back in favour of vines; cotton production took off in the United States, which led to a significant drop in the value of Maltese cotton. Viticulture began to take over again (mainly for table Grapes at first) and continued to prosper despite the arrival of Phylloxera which swept through Europe in the 1860s.

The Maltese Climate is typically Mediterranean: summers are hot and Dry, winters are cool and wet. This allows for prolific yields when vineyards are properly managed (irrigation is necessary to make the most of the summer sunshine), as has been demonstrated in Sicily, just to the North. At 35 degrees south, Malta is, along with Cyprus, Crete and Pantelleria, one of the most southerly wine regions in Europe. Malta's main wine markets are domestic rather than international, so finding a Maltese wine outside of Malta itself can be a challenge.