A good wine is like perfume in a bottle and it is this mantra that helps guide us when we search the world over for rare wines to stock in our shops. Today New Zealand is a premier vine growing region despite it being a relative newcomer to the world of wine. This region boasts a variety of climates that helps craft wines of great elegance and structure, with international grape varieties such as pinot noir, syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and of course sauvignon blanc.

What most people don’t understand is how big the islands actually are, to put things into perspective they length is roughly equivalent to the distance of Morocco to Pairs. You can only imagine the huge geographical differences that can take place, also adding the cool maritime climate and the fact that it is closer to Antarctica than Australia.

A history of the Islands wine heritage

Samuel Marsden, an Anglican missionary, made the first recorded planting of grapevines at the Bay of Islands in 1819.  The earliest recorded winemaker was Scotsman James Busby, appointed the first British Resident in New Zealand.  When the French explorer, Dumont d’Urville, visited Busby at Waitangi in 1840, he was given “a light white wine, very sparkling and delicious to taste…”

French priests and peasants, Hawke’s Bay pastoralists, Croatian gum-diggers and others  preserved the flame ignited by Busby throughout the 19^th century.  But the assaults of oidium (powdery mildew), the vine-destroying phylloxera aphid, and prohibitionist zealots together ensured that the early dreams of a flourishing antipodean industry faded.

The 1920s and ‘30s witnessed gradual but unspectacular growth.  The industry boomed during the Second World War – when duties were raised on imported wines – and expansion continued. During the 1950s and ‘60s, due to a string of legislative concessions by successive governments, including major reductions in the minimum amounts of wine that could be sold by winemakers, approval for more retail outlets, and the licensing of restaurants to sell wine in 1960.

An outstanding feature of the 1960s and 1970s was heavy investment by overseas companies, Australian and American.  The 1970s also brought an overall improvement in wine quality and heavy emphasis on the production of light, fruity, slightly sweet whites, based on the heavy-cropping variety, muller-thurgau.

In recent decades, most Kiwi drinkers have developed a taste for fully dry styles, made from such classic varieties as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir, which now dominate the industry’s output.  Wine has played a key role in the emergence of the country’s thriving café culture. 

New Zealand wineries originally set out to serve the small domestic market, operating within a highly regulated economy.  But in 1985 the government moved to speed up the removal of barriers against overseas bottles, allowing Australian producers to contest the New Zealand market on an equal footing by 1990. 

Spurred into action by their heavy loss of domestic market share, the winemakers launched a sustained export drive.  The value of New Zealand’s exports has skyrocketed from $NZ18 million in 1990, to a forecasted rise to $2 billion by 2020.          

New wine companies are mushrooming, from Northland to Central Otago.  Thirty years ago, there were fewer than 100 New Zealand wineries; today the ranks have swollen to over 670.  The industry is forever abuzz with the excitement of new companies, new faces, new labels. 

Our New Brands

With family owned wineries such as Blank Canvas, Black Estate, Dry River & Man o war we are excited to offer you some great value for money wines ideal for the summer by the pool or for a bbq. Of course we also offer classics such as Cloudy bay and Ha Ha wines. So pop by our shop in Franks The Plaza, Sliema or in Franks, Bortex, Baystreet in St Julian’s to choose from a extensive selection of wines, spirits & cigars or visit our website and buy online. We also offer free delivery all over Malta & Gozo with purchases over 50 Euros.

Franks is the leading wine, whisky & cigar shop in Malta and we are proud to stock Waterford Irish whiskies. Waterford is a whisky brand like no other, it is born out of the vision of Mark Reynier whose obsession with Terroir has driven him and his brand to exiting new heights in the world of single malts.

What makes Waterford Whisky so special?

The idea behind Waterford whisky is simple, it is to create the worlds best whisky by applying the philosophy of the wine world to single malts. However what does it mean?

Simply put the best wines in the world are not made from generic grapes grown around the world , fermented and then bottled. There is an idea of “terroir”, which means that the grapes act like a camera , but instead of capturing light, they capture the flavour of the area they are grown in. Of course each parcel of land is effected in different ways.

An area of high altitude will produce a fresher crop than a parcel of land in lower altitudes. This of course creates a difference in acidity between the 2 and so it effects the final aromas. Soil is a other factor that has major consequences on flavour and last but not least we are all testament to the simple fact that each year that passes is different to the one before.

This is were Mark started off, his question was simple. If terroir effect grapes, why are we assuming that it doesn’t effect barley? Isn’t it a crop that is receptive to the same notions of soil, light and time?

The story behind the whisky and the brand.

With this simple question Mark set off on a quest to find the perfect site for his new distillery. His previous job as the managing director of Bruichladdich thought him that the worlds best barley was grown in Ireland and so the emerald isle it was.

He and his team found a newly built but abandoned beer factory in Waterford and after some time he managed to buy it. Of course it was only logical to name his brand based on the concept of terroir after the town it was located in.

Once the deal was sealed he set about looking for the best parcels of land all around the country , contacted and explained each concept to the farmers and set off to work.

The Process.

Once the barley is grown each farmer delivers his crop to the main site where each plot is individually stored, this is called the cathedral. Storing each plot separate is of the utmost importance in ensuring traceability . speaking about honesty and traceability the detail the madmen at Waterford have gone through is nothing short of miraculous.

Every bottle of Waterford has a unique code at the back and once you enter this code on there site you are given a full breakdown of the entire history. What we are speaking of is the geographical location, the type of soil, the weather patterns during harvest, one can even listen to the sound of the field!

After having malted and distilled each plot to the highest standard they are placed in identical barrels ( a mixture of French and American oak). After a period of aging each whisky is then bottled at 50% and placed in the iconic glass blue bottles.

Where to find these mouthwatering whiskies?

We are currently stocking a variety of 5 different bottles which are the Sheestown 1.2, Ballymorgan 1.2, Gaia organic 1.1, Lakefield 1.1 and the Hook head 1.1.

Visit our shop in Franks, level 2 the plaza shopping centre, Sliema and ask to try a free sample or buy online via our website. Free delivery applies for purchases over 50 euro all over Malta & Gozo.

New Irish Whisky Now at Franks Sliema