Local winery Marsovin held a press conference this morning at their Marnisi Estate, highlighting their annual grape harvest. Led by CEO Jeremy Cassar, the winery came forward saying that despite earlier expectations, temperature and weather extremes have severely affected overall harvest totals. 

Marsovin went on to explain that the heatwaves of June, July and August had detrimental effects, notably described by the winery as “[drying] up a large part of the foliage” with subsequent shrivelling of grape bunches (a process known as raisining); this particularly affected the Ġellewża and Girgentina grape varieties, both of which are indigenous to the Maltese islands. 

In conclusion, the winery stressed an increased need for investment in the wine and agricultural sectors, as well incentives for young people to enter the farming sphere. Marosvin further added that demand will fast outweigh the supply on the current trajectory which will inevitably lead to rising prices and the possibly loss of local varieties. 

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Matthew Baldacchino

Self-titled resident SJW and expressionless in-house Head of Internal Marketing. Matt loves prepping vegan and vegetarian food, consumes way too much coffee, and has an unhealthy penchant for storyboarded Instagram Stories. When he's not trying to figure out social media policies, marketing strategies or cracking SEO conundrums, you can catch him as the host of Basically, Livestream Of Consciousness or Lovin Daily. Hit him up if you've got a story about the environment, arts and culture, health, politics and activism, or LGBTQI+ issues. He's also a doctor, but we don't talk about that.