Maltese summer fruits and wine

I don’t fancy eating a proper dessert at the end of a meal. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweets but rather enjoy them later, as a special indulgence consumed on its own and never taken for granted.

But I like the idea of concluding lunch or dinner with a piece of fresh fruit, like the French and Greeks customarily do. It’s a welcome excuse to finish off that ‘little drop’ at the end of a bottle of wine.

And, what a welcome reminder it is that not just sweet but dry wines, too, can team up so well, especially on a hot summer’s day when there’s a basket of Maltese fruits to choose from.

Malta’s over-abundant prickly pear may be the ugly duckling of local horticulture but it’s a real favourite I’ve been happily spooning up with leftover wine.

Regardless whether it’s the Bajtar Malti, Bajtar Franciz or the red Bajtar Ingliz variety, the big berries contain a distinct pulp that hits the tip of the tongue with a taste of all-natural bubble gum, which is often echoed in fresh Maltese Chardonnay. That’s why the combination with an unwooded varietal like the Chardonnay in the Medina range of DOK Malta wines works so well.

Fresh fruit pairs best with wines that are young and fruity themselves. Plain strawberries, preferably the small and sweet Maltese frawli that ripen in spring, are a wonderful match with sparkling rosé. A sparkler like Delicata’s off-dry Ġellewża Frizzante, to my mind, is more appropriate than the classic Champagne pairing.

You can also serve strawberries the Italian way: soaked in a light red wine and a dash of sugar, which is all the more reason to keep back a glug of Medina Ġellewża, Malta’s old-bush vine red, which I find to be a very faithful reserve – and a leaner alternative to whipped cream.

This garnet-coloured, soft and fruity, feather-weight dry red wine made from Malta’s own red-skinned grape won’t flub. It’s light, not too tannic, and slightly earthy, like the strawberries. Medina Ġellewża, although red, can be enjoyed slightly chilled which is an added bonus.

This type of wine, with just a little more texture and structure than most whites, is also great with fresh figs, another locally-found treat that comes as bajtar ta’ San Gwann in June and as late figs or tin in August. Malta’s sunny climate makes them very juicy. I love my figs with coconut flakes on top to bring out the characteristics of the Ġellewża grape.

Maltese watermelon or dulliegha has refreshing sweet pink or red flesh and is always super sappy. I like my wedge with a tiny sprinkle of fleur de sel and a gulp of equally mouth-watering rosé like Victoria Heights Shiraz, which has that complementary candy-cantaloupe flavour and balancing acidity to keep the combination from being cloying. But for the ultimate refreshment I reach for a citrusy sparkling wine, like Delicata’s Girgentina Frizzante, which is really an aperitif.

I know, the aperitif serves to whet the appetite before a meal, but I did start off by saying that I like my real dessert later as a course by itself and give it my undivided attention.

This article by Georges Meekers was first published in the Times of Malta on 07/08/20.