Sauvignon Blanc at its best is truly one of the great grape varieties of the world. It is renowned for producing white wines with great character and finesse that are crisp and refreshing and packed with aromatic fruit flavours. These flavours, depending on the wines origin, are often described as herbaceous, gooseberry or grapefruit like, or simply tropical. But one thing is for sure, wines made from this noble white grape variety, have the potential to be great. And that is what the winemakers at Delicata believe they have produced from the grapes harvested in 2010, Malta’s finest Sauvignon Blanc to date.

The two wines released by Delicata from this 2010 vintage are the Medina Sauvignon Blanc D.O.K. Superior Malta and the Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc D.O.K. Malta Maceration Pelliculaire, and in my opinion, both are outstanding.

Sauvignon Blanc is a grape variety that performs particularly well in cool winemaking climates like the Loire Valley in France, where it produces famous ‘grassy’ wines like Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, or New Zealand where the wines have a more ‘tropical’ style to them. But this grape variety is also performing well in some hotter climates like California and Sicily, which prompted Delicata to try cultivating them in Malta some sixteen years ago; and if the quality of the 2010 vintage is anything to go by, I am so glad they did. I must profess to being a bit of a fan of Sauvignon Blanc (when it’s good that is, and definitely without the oak please) so I was particularly excited when I took my first sip of the 2010 vintage wine that has just been recently bottled at the Delicata winery. But rather than pontificate too much about what I think is the best Maltese Sauvignon Blanc I have tasted, I simply recommend that if there are any ‘Sauvignon Blanc lovers’ out there, you try it for yourself and make your own mind up!