Maltese Weekend III

 

There's a burgeoning wine scene in Malta, they still import most of their wines from Italy and France but there are a couple of producers on the island that I reckon could compete with mid to upper tier continental offerings. The first is a winery called "Ta' Betta" whose wines regularly score over 90 points (on the Parker scale) We had one of their wines "Philippe Villiers" at our hotel restaurant, it was delicious, a blend of Syrah and Cab Franc, it's a robust red, but has notes of tobacco, chocolate, graphite and green peppers (much like a good Southern Rhone or perhaps Cru Bourgeois from Bordeaux) It's seen some oak, and has very smooth tannins. I was impressed, and compared to the prices of equivalent French or Italian bottles on the same menu it was a steal (half the price), a very well crafted drink.

The other producer that's worthy of mention IMO is Marsovin, probably slightly more industrial in production than Ta' Betta but at the top end very good indeed. We had a bottle of their Chardonnay with an evening meal one night and it was super! Crisp, fruity with good finish and length, would easily outshine many cheaper Burgundies or new world examples at the same price point.

There are also a couple of noteworthy craft beer bars in town (Valletta) I snapped the beer board of one of them "67 Kapitali" which features (mainly) beers from a producer called "Lord Chambray" who are based in Gozo (the other island in the Malta archipelago) and beers from Huskie who are located nearer to Valletta in Qrendi which is just the other side of the airport from the city. The bar isn't limited to local beer though it also has a number of other European offerings including some from the UK including Verdant and Tiny Rebel as well as Spanish and German brews, you could easily spend an evening in here and not try the same beer twice.

There are also 7 Michelin starred restaurants in Malta, including a two star in Valletta (ION Harbour) by Chef Simon Rogan, famous for founding L'Enclume up in the Lake District (Cartmel) we didn't try it but the location and food looks outstanding. I guess that in addition to a few "kiss me quick" pubs in Valletta there's also a decent amount of cash on the Island (it is a tax haven after all!) and those folks love a star or two for dinner!

Eventually it was time for us to leave, we were quite sad to go, we'd had a good time and left feeling like there was much more to this little island to be discovered. As our flight was climbing out of the airport I snapped the picture above, it shows the Grand Harbour and Valletta  gleaming under the Mediterranean sun, goodbye for now, I'm sure we'll return someday.

Strange Loop

New Verdant beer on Saturday evening, a pale ale called "Strange Loop" which is a collaboration between Verdant and Big Scary Monsters. Classic Verdant murk hopped with Eclipse, Mosaic and Nectaron giving masses of ripe tropical fruits, sweet with a touch of dankness, delicious beer! (not sure about the label though?)

Maltese Weekend II

 

One rather macabre attraction of Valletta is a pub called (rather unimaginatively) "The Pub" (see above) it has become a shrine to actor Oliver Reed who, in 1999, while filming the blockbuster "Gladiator" with Russell Crowe stopped here for a drink. Reed (aged 61) who was an infamous alcoholic and hellraiser was apparently "off the booze" at the time but unfortunately for him was goaded into a drinking and arm-wrestling competition with some Royal Navy sailors taking shore leave from their ship (HMS Cumberland) docked in the harbour. 

It didn't go well for Reed, after 8 pints, a dozen shots of rum, half a pint of Whiskey and multiple shots of Cognac he suffered a massive heart attack. His fellow drinkers attempted artificial respiration but he died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. Inside the pub you can purchase a tee shirt marking this self-destructive drinking feat with the various libations listed on the back of it along with the word "Legend", I resisted the urge to buy one. 

Many of the drinking establishments in Valletta have a strong UK influence, several are simply London pubs transplanted to the Mediterranean island. I think this is why the place is so popular with a certain type of "Brit". I mentioned in the previous post that I felt the town had a certain "Benidorm" vibe to it, what I mean by this is you see a lot of places that appeal to the middle aged bald, tattooed, vaping English bloke who will be sporting a ManU football shirt and Adidas trainers. There are plenty of examples of such style icons wandering about and quite a few staggering about later in the evening. I suppose a place like this with guaranteed sunshine, cheap booze, English as the official language and a history that's steeped in British pub culture will be an attractive proposition for those looking for a Sunday Roast in 40 degree heat. I thought this side of the city was less appealing, but don't let that put anyone off the place, wander a little off the beaten track and you will find some real gems, local, authentic and friendly, it just takes a little research.

We booked a food tour for one of our days in Valletta and dutifully assembled with other foodies at 9:30am in the main square in front of the Parliament building. It was a nice little tour, about 4 hours along with cultural and historical sites in between the food stops. We learnt a lot about the city from our really friendly Maltese lady tour guide, she was also a keen home chef and was able to suggest interesting associations between food and culture as we went along, for example the way in which different influences have left their mark on popular island dishes. In the photo above is one of our food offerings on the tour. It's a rabbit terrine, that particular mammal being a very common source of protein in Malta however rabbits aren't native to the place, they were introduced by the Phoenicians back in 750BC as their sailors started to use the island as a strategic maritime hub, their rule lasted until the Romans took over in 218BC they introduced olives, the British introduced (predictably) curry!!

Valletta is surrounded by water, on one side you have the "Grand Harbour" (pictured above) and on the other Marsamxett Harbour, these bodies of waterfrontage were home to the British Mediterranean fleet and suffered terribly during WWII as the island is only 60 miles from Sicily and within easy bombing range of Italian and German planes of the time. Malta was awarded the George Cross by King George VI (see below) in 1942 in recognition of Maltese resilience during the Siege of Malta by Italy and Germany in the early part of the war. Some of the older buildings still bear the scars of shrapnel on their walls and the shadows of concrete gun emplacements and pill boxes are evident everywhere. There are many WWII museums and sites in Valletta, it's probably a mecca for WWII buffs, no doubt Al Murray visits regularly (probably)

Malta is also a source of some rather nice food and wine, industries that have been developing in the last few years and have become something of a upmarket alternative to the "pub" scene already embedded, more about this in part III

Friday Smirk

The boys discussing the various ethical and moral interpretations often applied to the different "holy texts". The amusing thing is that we all know what those Bronze Age story tellers were on about, it's only the passage of time and much vesting of interests that warps the words into "allegory and metaphor"..

Maltese Weekend I

So, last minute thing, we decided to escape to Malta for a long weekend. A country that we'd never been to before but so many people we know have and report good things about that we felt compelled to pay the place a visit. Arriving fairly late after a three hour flight, we headed through a quiet airport and out into the warm evening, then a quick 20 minute taxi to our hotel for a much anticipated couple of nights in Valletta, the capital of the small island state.

We awoke the next day to blue skies and a rather nice 26 degree warmth and headed into the city (our hotel was just outside the medieval city walls) Valletta is an ancient place, situated on an elevated peninsula, it's grid of narrow streets is completely contained within rather impressive ramparts constructed by the Knights of St. John in the 1500s (to protect against Ottoman invasions) It's made almost entirely from a light coloured local limestone, rather like Portland Stone, it looked a gorgeous honey colour under the intense Mediterranean sun. 

Crossing over the "Valletta Ditch" and through the newly crafted city gate (2014) we entered the city proper and walked down the main commercial street (Republic St.) It was busy, very busy, like Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, progress was slow. As we strolled along we passed many of the "sights" of the city, the bombed out Opera House, St. Johns Cathedral, St. Georges square among others and a couple of things became clear, a) Malta (or Valletta at least) is a very "churchy" place, every other building seemed to have a religious connection, b) it's a very diverse place with lots of cultural influences and c) it has a distinct "Benidorm" vibe, anyway more on this later. We didn't stroll for too long as we had a lunch appointment with some friends who happened to be visiting at the same time as us and so returned to our hotel and hopped into an Uber which I booked to take us to a place called Mdina, the original capital of the island (until 1530), around 25 minutes later we arrived (it's only a small island!)

Mdina (old city) is also surrounded by a huge wall and ditch (those medieval Maltesers were a paranoid bunch!) and is situated on a small hill surrounded by walled fields containing a variety of crops, olives, grapes and fruit trees etc. I snapped a pano of the view from up on the ramparts (see above) it was a lovely spot! Mdina was also a very "churchy" place, clearly the Catholic church had quite a grip on this place at one point, the local (soft) limestone does lend itself to some fabulous Baroque stonework, here's (below) the cathedral in Mdina shining in the sun..

After a nice Mediterranean lunch of seafood and pasta we headed back to Valletta and our hotel to freshen up before heading back into the city for some evening refreshments and a further look around the place. Of course I'd previously researched some of the local craft beer options, there were a couple of small breweries on the island and there were also a couple of craft beer bars in town, we headed to one and settled in for a couple of beers before dinner. I was amazed to find that the bar we went to had a fridge full of cans and bottles from all over Europe, including my all time favourite Cornish brewer Verdant, I snapped up one of their pale ales to kick things off with, they even had the correct glassware (see below)!

After a couple of drinks and some light food options we retired to our hotel bar which was one of those grand dimly lit affairs with lot's of different whiskeys and gins to choose from, we didn't stay long and were soon tucked up in bed ready for our next day of exploration, we had a food tour booked and were looking forward to that, more in part II

Midweek Mirth

Met a few developers like this over the years, dealing (constructively) with criticism is a key part of successful product development. Also, knowing how to deflect and neutralize the criticism of idiots that have power (or money) so that they think you're going to do something (but have no intention to) is key as well.

Good and Bad

Probably the last garden beer of the season (26th September), it's getting cold and wet in the UK at the moment and will soon be dark far too early, still, it was a great year for al fresco eating and drinking probably a record breaking Summer (temperature and lack of rain wise) which is both a good and bad thing at the same time, I wonder what the Winter will bring?

Kernow Memories

Back in May 2025 we had a long weekend in Falmouth, Cornwall with a couple of our friends, the weather was extremely kind and the weekend was a complete scorcher! On one of the days we took the ferry over to St. Mawes which is a little village and harbour across the water from Falmouth (see pano above) it's a gorgeous little place, I remember sitting outside one of the little hotels on the sea front drinking a pint of Verdant beer (my favourite) with my mate chewing the fat and watching the world go by, doesn't get much better than that (see below).