The pressing of this years wine grapes at the Delicata Winery came to an end earlier this week, having begun some 38 days ago. The first Chardonnay grapes were harvested on August 9th and just over 5 weeks later the last Girgentina grapes were delivered to the company’s state-of-the-art fermentation hall on Paola waterfront, where they were quickly pressed.

Mr. V. George Delicata, Emmanuel Delicata’s Managing Director said “This has been an excellent vintage with regard to quality for all the grape varieties. We had to reject a few batches of grapes that weren’t up to our quality standards, but overall our vignerons have done a fantastic job. With regard to quantity we have pressed more red and white grapes than last year, because we have purchased additional grapes from more farmers he said.”

This 2010 harvest is only the second harvest to be pressed at the new €2.1 million grape receiving area and fermentation hall, as the project was only completed last year just in time for the 2009 press. Mr. Delicata went on to praise the energy efficiency of the new development, “The new equipment and buildings we have invested in have made a vast difference in our efficiency” he said. “Whereas before we could be pressing and fermenting well into the early hours of the morning, seven days a week, now we are finished by 8.00pm each evening and have even managed to get a break on Sundays as well. The whole process is just more ‘slick and streamlined’ and the new technology simply allows us to keep on improving the quality of the juice he said”. “We have a large dedicated army of people doing everything they can to maximise the quality of the fruit they are growing for us. As winemakers, it is therefore up to us to capture all those flavours and aromas those 600 farmers have worked so hard to obtain and make sure they end up in the bottle for the consumer to enjoy. It’s this new equipment, together with the skill of our workforce that will ensure that that happens, time after time” he concluded.