Best Red Wine in Malta (for less than €10) - Part 1

So as to simplify things, and to protect both my wallet and my liver, I am imposing a couple of restrictions on this search.  Firstly, the wine must be available for less than ten euros, as the title above would suggest.  Secondly, I am only checking out Merlot wines in this survey, as they are your basic introductory red wine and pretty much everybody likes Merlot.  It should also be noted that I am by no means a Wine Expert, but I know what I like.

First off, it is La Torre from Marsovin in Marsa.

Blurb on Bottle:  Easy drinking, fruity with aromas of plums, cherries and coffee.  Pleasantly smooth finish.

We Say:  Not a bad effort.  Crisp, plummy flavour with a slightly acrid after-taste (so I can't agree with that 'smooth finish' from the blurb) but it's an adequately decent wine at this price.

Bought For:  €4.28









Next is Medina from the good people at Delicata.



Blurb on Bottle: Full flavoured, fruity, soft and appealing.

We Say: Woody taste, which most people mention about wine as being a good thing despite the fact that we humans do not particularly enjoy the taste of trees.  Considering that it smells like something early settlers used to construct cabins, it is a nice option if you are looking for a decent low-priced red.  Nothing amazing, but probably a notch up from La Torre.

Bought For: €4.99







Let us do some island-hopping to try Victoria Heights from Gozo

Blurb on Bottle:  Full flavoured, robust fruity red wine.  Elegant, austere and full of character.

We Say:  What does austere mean in this context?  Anyway, this is a crisp wine with a purple-fruity taste. Much smoother after-taste than the previous two, this one is really pretty nice.

Bought For:  €4.99










Final selection is Caravaggio from Marsovin again.



Blurb on Bottle: Concentrated & fruity.  Intense aromas of plums, figs and forest berries.  Well structured and robust, plenty of supple velvety tannins leaving a very pleasant long lingering finish.

We Say:  A dry fruity wine, tastes good, smooth  with pleasant after-taste.  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

Bought For:  €6.50

All four of these wines are very widely available all over the island, so you shouldn't have any trouble picking up a bottle to try yourself.  Wine snobs out there, feel free to tell me why I wouldn't know a good Merlot from a glass of warm Kinnie.  

So Caravaggio gets the nod this time, but you may have noticed that I've added 'Part 1' to the title of this post.  There are a lot of reasonably priced Maltese wines out there, so why not check out Part 2 here.