Our world cruise adventure continues. Since the beginning of March, our travels on the Viking Star have had us in or near the Mediterranean with only three stops on the European continent but mostly island hopping. Three notable islands were Sardinia of Italy, Malta and Corfu of Greece. Notable because these three islands, in the Med, produce some excellent wines.

Side note, we also experienced some wonderful Madeira, from the Portuguese Island of that name, as well as Sherry from the Spanish island of Mallorca. But you don’t want to hear about that, do you? Well, maybe another time. For now, let me tell you of these wonderful island-grown wines.

Now of course, we of OCWS are very familiar with mainland Italian varietals and blends, but I cannot recall any Italian wines found in California coming from Sardinia. We docked on the southern port of Cagliari and travelled inland a bit where our tour/tasting group pulled into a winery known simply as Argiolas. This is a very large family-run winery that has its origins in the early 1900s. Antonio Argiolas, the patriarch, built it up over the years and ran it with his two sons until his passing at the age of 102. There must be truth to the belief that drinking red wine protects you from diseases and will extend your life. Today, it is run by the third generation of Argiolas, three grandchildren!

After a tour of the winery by our very friendly guide, Giulia, we were hosted by the winery to enjoy their wines along with an assortment of cheeses and breads. It was not only a great experience, but the wines were fantastic. We were offered two whites and two reds, all DOC and all made from grapes grown in the family vineyards on Sardinia.

The two whites were labelled as S’Elegas made from a local varietal known as Nuragus di Cagliari (it’s a good thing I took a brochure or I would never have spelled this correctly)! Of the whites, this was my personal favorite. Manuela, on the other hand, preferred Costamolino, made from the local variety of Vermentino, a varietal that I am sure you are familiar with.

The two reds were Pedera and Cosera. Pedera was made from the Monica di Sardegna, a popular grape on the island and had a unique but excellent flavor. The Costera came from the Cannonau di Sardegna, which I learned later is the Italian name for Grenache and tasted very much like a California Grenache. It is also the most widely grown in Sardinia. Both of these were excellent, though I favored the Cannonau. These wines are available in the United States!

Our next stop was Malta. Malta has a long political history changing hands in ownership from England to Turkey. Malta gained its independence from England in 1964, but they still drive their vehicles on the wrong side, I mean the left side, of the road. Malta is located south of Sicily, the lights of which can be seen on a clear night, and it has two official languages – Maltese and English. And before I get into the winemaking, Malta is a beautiful island country that should be on your bucket list. The incredible vast limestone block structures that fortify the small cities and dominate the Old Town areas are unlike anywhere else.

Perhaps you know all this, but what was surprising to me is that Malta has a thriving local wine production.

Once again, our tour group took to the road, making a trip to the Marsovin Wine Cellars in the port city of Valletta. This winery was established in 1919 and, surprisingly, was created out of a vessel storage and repair facility located within an easy reach of the Mediterranean Sea. For over a hundred years, this winery has been owned and operated by the same family starting with the brothers Cassar. But when one of the brothers dropped out, the business stayed with Anthony Cassar, then later his son, and then on to the grandchildren. Our tour was conducted by one of those grandchildren, Stephan Cassar, who clearly knew well the history and operation of the Marsovin Wine Cellars. We were shown the sparkling winemaking process in particular. Of note, 2019 was the 100^th anniversary of Marsovin and had been celebrated in style with a special vintage that was hand prepared and bottled.

After the tour of the cellars, we were than treated to a taste of some of the wines, all made from Maltese-grown grapes, coming from either the island of Malta or Gozo, largest of the other Maltese islands. There were two white varietals by names I could not repeat. But one of the reds we tried that stood out was the Ulysses Shiraz.

In the local stores and restaurants, you could find Marsovin. In fact, later, we enjoyed a glass of Marsovin’s local reds while observing a traditional 4 pm canon salute from the nearby military batteries. Excellent!

A third Mediterranean island that makes very good wine is the Greek island of Corfu. Unlike Sardinia and Malta, which are quite some distance from the continental mainland, this island is right up against mainland Greece. In fact, it was within sight of the snow-covered Albanian mountain range to the east. We did not have a formal wine tour here, but the locally produced wine was everywhere. We tried a few at local cafés and found the wines to be excellent, particularly the whites. The photo above shows a store display in Corfu that presented only Corfu-grown varietals, with a few from mainland Greece. I could list some of the varietal names, but instead, I encourage you to come here – or to any of these wonderful Mediterranean locations – and discover some of remarkable regional wines on your own. Our trip continues for eight more weeks.

– W. Scott Harral, Contributing Writer

Retirement is GREAT!!! If I had known retirement would be this great, I’d have done it sooner. OK, probably not, as there is a reason that we do work.

But I am enjoying it now. And so far I have shared with you, through my submissions to The Wine Press, a few of my experiences traveling that, most importantly, have included the delight of wine from many parts of the world. Allow me to do so again.

On Christmas Eve, now two months ago as I write this, Manuela and I embarked on a venture of a lifetime, to cruise around the world. We left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, heading south to the Panama Canal, with planned stops in Mexico, Nicaragua, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and then to Los Angeles, before heading west to Hawaii and southern Asia. Well, thanks to COVID, we never made it to Nicaragua nor Columbia. And when we got to LA, guess what? We could not leave the ship the three days we were there. More importantly, we were no longer going to go west to Asia. Instead, we were to go back south to sail along the western coast of South America, around Cape Horn, up to Uruguay – sadly, no stops in Argentina – and then over to the Mediterranean where we resumed our original itinerary in Saudi Arabia. We had just spent the day in Cape Verde, a country of ten islands off the coast of Senegal and we were about halfway through the trip.

Enough about our trip though. The good news about the changes and what I want to share with you is the incredible wineries and wines that we experienced in Chile and Uruguay. Plus, there is another little wine adventure I will tell you about.

I am sure most of you know and enjoy Chilean wines. They are extraordinary and becoming very popular in California restaurants and wine circles. On this trip, we got to go more in depth and learn about Chilean winemaking history and what it means to their wines. For one, did you know that Chilean wine is organically grown and processed? There are strict laws in place that require the vineyards to be managed without chemical treatment. And in further support of this condition, Chile also imposes restrictions on any food or plant materials coming into the country. They enjoy a very healthy grape growing environment in Chile, and they strive to keep it that way.

Our first stop in Chile was in the port city of Valparaiso. From here, some of us took an excursion to a winery in the region known as Casablanca. Know that this region is in central Chile and is in the same latitudes south as the wine-growing regions of California, France, Italy and other wine regions of Europe are to the north, between the 30^th the 38^th parallels. Thus, this is an ideal growing region for wine grapes. The winery we visited was called Viñamar. While Chile grows and makes the usual vitis vinifera (old world) reds and whites, Chile is known for its Carmenere. Like Argentina’s Malbec, Carmenere originated in France, transferred to Chile and flourished there. Some of the great wines we had in Chile included Carmenere from Viña Tarapacà (my top pick) and San Pedro Castillo de Molina Pinot Noir Reserva. There were so many more.

After several more days of visiting Chile and sailing around Cape Horn, we stopped in Uruguay. Have you heard of Uruguayan wine? Well, I hadn’t either, but it was fantastic.

From our port stop in Montevideo on the mouth of the Plate River that separates Uruguay and Argentina, we visited a winery inland near a town called Canelones. Some more background, the wine region of Uruguay is between the 30^th and 35^th parallels. It is in the same latitudes as Mendoza, Argentina, and of the Chilean wine region we had just visited a few weeks earlier. That should tell you something!

Once there we were given the grand tour of Familia Deicas Winery. Because we were in the southern hemisphere, it was approaching harvest time, so we observed the field labor teams organizing to hand pick the grapes. In Uruguay, the grape of choice is Tannat, but the usual varietals were grown there as well. One unusual grape was called Lacryma Christi or the Tears of Christ. The fruit was sweet and had a bright red juice. See the picture.

Back in the cellar we enjoyed seven of their wines that included the Tannat, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and another popular white, Albariño. Some were sold under the name Don Pascual. It was a great day and memorable experience!

If you should ever get the opportunity to travel to South America in search of great wine (or otherwise), you will find it in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, for sure.

After departing Uruguay, we headed for the African coast. Along the nine-day voyage I was given a wonderful opportunity. Some background, while we were in the Port of Los Angeles, though we could not leave the ship, I did arrange for several bottles of my homemade Nebbiolo to be brought onboard.

The day after we departed LA was my birthday. So, we celebrated in style sharing my wine with some of the passengers and crew. Well, somehow, I was asked to make a presentation on home winemaking. “I would love to!”  Not knowing exactly what to do though, I reached out to Kevin Donnelly. Wow, he was great! He provided me with his 110-page PowerPoint presentation on home winemaking!  After a few modifications and including a few photos of my own winemaking experience both at home and in Italy, I made the presentation. Wine was provided by the Viking Bar Manager Andrej and Sommelier Dejan while I made the presentation to a packed theater of about 45 people. It was a great success. I have even been made an honorary sommelier on board the Viking Star, and I have the badge to prove it.

We still have 2½ months to go, and we will be hitting many Mediterranean ports which will include more visits to wineries such as in Malta.

So a follow up to this story just might be in order.

– W. Scott Harral,
Contributing Writer