Grape producers ‘disgusted’ by DOK classification affair

Contacted by MaltaToday, Vitimalta administrative secretary Gerald Vella said that if proven, the alleged fraud would have not only affected the wine producer but also the viticultural farmers who make their living out of growing grapes.

MaltaToday has revealed that the Ministry for Rural Affairs had carried out an analysis of three Delicata wines - the Gran Cavalier Vintage 2010, the Medina Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Vintage and the Delicata Cavalli Blanc varietal 2010 - and found that two of the wines, marked as DOK, had in fact been produced from grapes which originated in Italy and had been imported to Malta for winemaking purposes.

A wine acquires a DOK certificate only when it is produced from grapes that have been cultivated in Malta.

"If the allegations were proven to be founded, we would be disgusted for the simple reason that out of all the stakeholders, we would be the ones to suffer the most," Vella said.

Vitimalta represents 300 farmers who make up 85 to 90% of all viticultural farmers.

Vella said that while viticultural farmers are doing their utmost to produce high-quality grapes, it was not fair for a wine producer to buy foreign grapes and then pass them on as if they were grown on Maltese soil.

"We thought our product was special and limited, but if these cases go on it means that it has become unlimited. Moreover, farmers know they are producing high-quality grapes and imported grapes can diminish our reputation," Vella said.

Saviour Azzopardi, a viticultural farmer and a member of Vitimalta, said farmers had already been hurt in 2009 after an agreement with Delicata Wineries had fallen through.

"In 2009, farmers experienced a great decline in demand despite a previous agreement establishing the number of grapes to be grown. Moreover, Delicata had also insisted on reducing the agreed prices," Azzopardi said.

After Malta joined the EU, it was established that viticultural farmers could not grow more than 1,000 hectares. This quota was established to protect the quality of the grapes, and even if, for example, the market had a demand of 3,000 hectares, not more than 1,000 hectares of grapes could be grown.

During 2004, 2005 and 2006, the farmers started planting their grapes, as contracts between the wineries and farmers were drawn up. The contracts established the price at which each kilogramme of grapes would be sold to the wineries.

Each contract - spanning over the range of 10 years - was agreed between the specific winery and the individual farmer.

Moreover, a farmer who has purchasing contracts with one winery cannot sell his yields to another winery.

2009 was the year in which the majority of the vineyards would start harvesting their yields.

"However, Delicata decided to cut down the prices, in breach of the contract," Azzopardi said, adding that the farmers received a letter informing them that Delicata would be paying around 18c (Maltese lira) per kg, instead of the 40c and 45c for the black and white variety grapes respectively.

At that point, the producer organisation chose against selling the grapes to the Delicata Wineries and decided to take their harvest to another producer organisation in Sicily to have them crushed, pressed and bottled as their own wines.

"It was in our plans to start producing a limited amount of our wines, but this  immediately forced us to become wine producers, even though our passion is for growing the grapes," the farmer insisted, adding that if they wanted, the farmers could have sought justice in court.

"But we know this takes time and at the same time, we didn't want to hurt the industry."

Then in 2010, Delicata Wineries bought some 300 tonnes worth of grapes from the farmers who are members of Vitimalta. The largest sale by the Vitimalta farmers was made to Marsovin, with some 557 tonnes.

The viticultural farmers argued that while there was little in the laws which safeguarded them, the fact that tourists request local wine should be enough of a safeguard to guarantee that their grapes are sold.

Each year, 12 million wine bottles of all types are sold in Malta. On the other hand, approximately three million bottles can be produced from grapes grown on Maltese soil, even though it is highly difficult to reach the three million mark.

"It shouldn't be difficult for the farmers to sell grapes to produce three million bottles  out of the 12 million, especially when the local product is on high demand. This alleged case of fraud has led us to ask whether this had been the reason why in 2009, Delicata had wanted to cut down on the prices," Vella said.

Another issue which is highly worrying the viticultural farmers is how wines produced from imported grapes are listed under the 'local wines' section in restaurant menus.

Vitimalta argued that protocols make it clear that a local wine is made from grapes produced on Maltese soil. "How can a wine whose label on the bottle, and even more the description on the menu, shows that the grape was grown overseas, be listed in the local wine, just because the bottler is local," Vella insisted.

Vitimalta had complained about the issue with Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Said, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority and the Malta Tourism Authority.

However, the meetings had led to nothing, as the authorities cannot yet make out what constitutes "local" wine for the menu list.

"We are certain that consumers are being misled and while the authorities somehow keep dragging their feet on this issue, sales of local wines are being negatively affected. As always it is us - the primary producers - who get the short end of the stick," Vella said.

Pullicino reacts over breach of contract, no reply from Delicata

Contacted by MaltaToday over Delicata's decision to rescind the contract with the vine growers in 2009, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said that government had been limited in its power to intervene, since the contract had been a private agreement between the vine grower and the processor.

"However government still held a series of meetings with the representatives of the Producer Organisation in order to help vine growers mitigate the difficulties encountered," Pullicino said.

"We had also offered administrative support to help vine growers find alternative routes for the surplus grapes. The result paid off."

Pullicino added that uncertainties in the market still prevailed, and this had prompted government to embark on an exercise to adapt farmers' supply of grape varieties to reflect market demand better in order to avoid costly oversupply of unwanted grapes, where surplus white vines are converted to red.

Pullicino said that this issue will be tackled by the Green Paper on Quality Wines launched last week - a paper which was hailed by Vitimalta as "excellent" and which specifically addressed the existing problems in the sector.

Vitimalta also proposed that more small wineries are set up which focused on quality.

The producer organisation also said that further investigation into DOK wines guaranteed that the directorate was carrying out its job thoroughly.

Among others, the Green Paper seeks to stabilise the market's balance between supply and demand by improving contracts between farmers and vintners, help stabilise farmer's income and improve transparency throughout the wine supply chain.

MaltaToday also tried to get a reaction from Delicata Wineries over the 2009 breach of contract. The attempts however proved to be futile as the company said managing director George Delicata was abroad, while Mario Delicata, his son, was not available for comment.