Earlier this week The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment George Pullicino together with representatives from The Viticulture and Oenoligy Unit officially launched Malta’s new Banderol system in the tasting vaults at The Chef restaurant in Valletta.

The newly introduced security labels MUST appear on all Maltese or Gozitan I.G.T. and D.O.K. wines from the 2009 vintage onwards. Every winemaker applying for either I.G.T. or D.O.K. status for its wine’s, must at the time of pressing the grapes, indicate the quantity of each and every individual wine it is going to produce from that harvest. Then, if and when, it is given the quality accreditation it applied for, it will be given an exact amount of individually numbered banderols, printed on security paper, for each particular wine. The Banderols, normally placed around the neck of the bottle, are either light grey in colour (I.G.T.) or pale yellow (D.O.K.).

Commenting on the system Mr. V. George Delicata said “The introduction of the new security Banderols for quality Maltese wines is a positive move at a number of levels, but most significantly for the consumer. It is a quick and effective way for people to easily recognise authentic quality wines of Malta and Gozo that have been officially classified with D.O.K. or I.G.T. status. Furthermore it signifies that each particular wine has undergone full transparency with regard to its winemaking process, every step of the way from the ‘vine to the wine’. Finally it independently guarantees the origin, quantity and genuineness of every bottle of wine it adorns.” “Following the introduction of Malta’s Q.W.P.S.R. labelling system in 2008 and now this additional Banderol neck tag system, discerning wine drinkers should now have no problem in recognising the legitimate quality wines of Malta in an instance” he said.