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.
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