A PREMIUM TASTE OF TIME

MONEY speaks to Jeremy Cassar, chief executive officer of Marsovin, about what it takes for a winery in Malta to lead the pack and remain creative in an industry that is thousands of years old.

Marsovin has been in business since 1919. What explains your longevity?

Our focus is always to do better. Never satisfied with just doing ‘enough’, we strive to keep producing better wines. As a 100-yearold, family-run business, every generation works hard to maintain and improve upon previous successes. My main goal is to eventually pass on the baton in an even better state than when I received it.

It’s not always easy and it takes determination. My great-grandfather, Anthony Cassar, founded Marsovin after World War I. He achieved tremendous amounts at a trying time, and he continued working throughout World War II when many businesses faced closure. But he emerged from the war as the largest producer and distributor of wine in Malta.

Well-taken decisions play a significant part, too. In our generation, post-EU accession was a difficult period for the wine sector in Malta. But, ploughing ahead makes you stronger, so you can ride the wave when the good times come.

I am enjoying the stage we’re at as a winery because old ideas are coming to fruition. We have an outstanding technical team but, most importantly, we are a group of like-minded individuals with a shared passion. And, behind it all is a family that loves what we have done and what we continue to do.

What sets you apart from other local winemakers?

Putting oneself in the context of other businesses is useful, but self-reflection and following your own dream are vital. Our standards are not set by the national standard; we set our own.

We have an extensive range of wines that have resulted from thorough planning and experimentation. For example, we’re the only Maltese wine producer using the méthode traditionnelle for our Brut called Cassar de Malte. And, we’ve been using this method for 20 years.

We also use indigenous varieties of grapes. For our Primus boutique wine, we sun dry – rather than cold dry – indigenous ġellewża grapes. We’re the first winery to explore this unique winemaking concept using local Maltese varieties. Primus has received a lot of praise, and we are proud of what we have achieved using the indigenous ġellewża.

Jeremy Cassar

My father instilled this commitment to quality and the ‘less is more’ approach at the winery. Ultimately, our results speak for themselves. When you treat a winery as a commercial entity, you’ll do a decent job with results that are good enough. But we put a lot of heart into what we do, and our passion, dedication and innovation produce unique results of premium quality.

Winemaking has been around for thousands of years. Is there still room for creativity?

To remain true to the culture of wine, not much can be invented anew, but certain styles can be explored. Our journey with Primus was something that we’d seen on Pantelleria, but for Malta – with indigenous Maltese varieties – this was a first.

There’s a classic stereotype about what a bottle of wine should be, and people love this about wine. Stepping outside of the rulebook leads to lots of fun creations, but they’re not going to sell, and you risk damaging what has been 100 years in the making. We remain faithful to traditional methods of winemaking, but we also embrace technical creativity. There’s a fine line, and our top priority is always to maintain a high standard.

We’re very creative in design. We sponsor Maltese artists in exhibitions and through our labels. This goes back to when Emvin Cremona was commissioned to create the first La Valette label in 1967, and we’ve kept it up ever since. For our 1919 range, we commission different Maltese artists every year to create two paintings, one for the red wine and one for the white. We’ve been doing this for a while, so we’ve amassed quite a collection!

Where do you turn for inspiration?

Inspiration comes from feeding budding ideas in your head and waiting for the right time to go for it. I travel and visit wineries to see what’s being done elsewhere in the world. I also look to the team I work with because when you surround yourself with people who share your passion, the journey is more exciting and somewhat easier.

If no one’s built the road to get to your destination, you must create it yourself. If you can do it with people who share a passion for the concept, then a lot can be achieved. My father fostered a great sense of belonging at Marsovin. We believe skills can be learnt, but what’s in the heart is the most important and inspirational element of the people with whom we work.

What would you like to see more of in the local winemaking sector?

I’d like to see more people taking up farming, which applies outside the wine sector, too. Great fruit and vegetables are part of the culture of Malta, but this has been disappearing over the years. I remember feasting on delicious Maltese produce as a child, but this is being lost because of our lack of exposure to agriculture. We have lost touch with where our ingredients come from and, consequently, as a nation, we don’t support our farmers enough.

I’d like to see more people taking up farming, which applies outside the wine sector, too

This is a challenge globally because as an economy grows, young people end up in offices rather than out in the fields. Marsovin buys 1,000 tonnes of grapes every year, so, as a business, we are trying to address this issue by incentivising farmers. But a widespread governmental solution needs to be explored. I believe a major problem is going to surface in Malta over the next decade when many farmers retire. People need to be more concerned about this.

What’s next for Marsovin?

We are working on the future. On the back of our centennial celebrations, our attention has turned to modernising the winery technologically to increase efficiency in the long run, and we are also exploring agritourism in our vineyards.

In the meantime, we are always working on new and improved wines. It is this experimentation that has made us a leader in quality. Now, we are working on a very special red, which we hope to release within the next five years. It will take time, but as with every other successful Marsovin vintage so far, we’ll get there eventually.

To mark its 100th anniversary, Marsovin has produced an exclusive new wine which is a cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Ġellewża Imqadded, a faithful expression of a unique blend developed to portray the very best of the 2017 vintage. To commemorate this special occasion, Marsovin has produced a series of large format bottles, all packaged by hand at the winery, 75cl, Magnums (1.5 litres), Double Magnums (3 litres), Jeroboams (5 litres) and Melchiors (18 litres).