Malta & Gozo: a wine story shaped by the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo have a wine history shaped by centuries of settlers, traders and empires. Each has left its mark on the islands’ culture, agriculture and relationship with the vine. Joséf Bonello, Brand Ambassador for Wines of Malta & Gozo, takes us on a brief journey through Malta and Gozo’s long and eventful wine history. Inhabited as early as 6500 BCE and home to some of the world’s oldest free-standing stone temples, the archipelago has always absorbed influences from afar and shaped them into a distinct identity that continues to evolve today. One of the most enduring cultural legacies arrived with the Phoenicians in the 8th century BCE. Skilled seafarers and traders, they introduced organised viticulture to the islands, laying the foundations of a wine story that stretches back millennia. Some of the earliest physical evidence of Maltese winemaking lies beneath the sea off Gozo, where a Phoenician shipwreck dated to around 700 BCE revealed amphorae pro

by WSETglobal · source ↗