hi there dave why don't you try a few bottles of each untiil you really know which one you like the best, as long as you can remember which one

inselli ghalik

alan

special reserve is plonk, the others are good wines for the price, esp La Vallette at Lm1. Other two around Lm1.50-1.75 good examples of the grape.(those are supermarket prices - add lm2-3 for restaurant prices)

I agaree that Special Reserve is plonk but there is nothing wrong with plonk. To me Special Reserve is the taste of Malta. I must admit it tastes much better in Malta that it does when I bring bottles home with me.

Some of the wines are made from grape juice imported from Italy but I think the Special Reserve is all from Maltese grown grapes.

As anyone been on a trip around any of the vinyards in Malta?

now Malta is in the EU, if a wine has Malta on it, it must be made from grapes grown in Malta, hence all the new vines being planted in Malta (if it was bottled prior to joining the EU, then can still be called Maltese). Previously alot of grapes were imported from Italy (not sure about grape juice - maybe for the lowest quality wines - like Special Reserve )

havn't done a vineyard tour yet, other than one in Gozo, around Rikkardo's restaurant's vineyard where I went for an evening meal amongst the vines last summer.

Thanks to all of you for your replys, I will just have to work my way through them all even the strong Gozo wine, once I have droped the car off at the ferry port.
Dave

Some time back I had posted a thread with the best wines of Malta. So I will limit this post to my two favourites. The First and probably one of the best wines that I have tasted (Not only Maltese) but I believe that this one beats some of the excellent French and Italian wines too. You need to taste it to understand why. This is produced by Marsovin and nowadays is very mucha collectors wine. The Cheval Franc is produced by Delicata and also an excellent wine and a tryuly funky bottle too.

Grand Maitre - Lm 9.00 from Supermarket Lm 14-Lm17 from Restaurant
Cheval Franc - Lm 5.50 from Super Lm 7 -Lm 10 from Restaurant

I think this is the thread in which you went into detail about the best wines of Malta HERE
But most important, welcome back from Africa! So tell us which was the greater challenge, hosting the CHOGM or climbing Kilimanjaro?