Farsons Beverage Imports Company (FBIC) Limited have recently been entrusted to distribute Tal-Massar’s wines in Malta. Anthony Hili and his wife Marisa are the driving force behind this award-winning winery set up back in March 2005. Although Tal-Massar Winery started off in 2005, the family boast a very long tradition in winemaking dating back to 1934.

From the very beginning their goal was to do what very few winemakers considered possible; to put the beauty and the power of our sunshine into a bottle of wine. The Hili’s wanted to produce a wine which is so unique that it would reflect the climate, the soil and finally the human hand. To do this they chose grape varietals which had a natural resistance to the extremities of the local microclimate of Għarb, the westernmost point of the island of Gozo.  In a terroir which is exposed to salty sea spray, highly calcareous and sandy soil, their good judgment led them to three grape varietals: the Tuscan Sangiovese, renowned to prevail in a chalky soil; Sardinian Vermentino, the coastal grape resistant to salt; and the Sicilian Nero d’Avola, or as it is locally known, the Sirkusian grape resistant to very dry weather conditions. These three varietals have provided Tal-Massar with the white Tanit, the red San Mitri and a unique Imqadded produced from late harvested Sirkusian, named Garb.

Tal-Massar wines are available in selected restaurants, wine boutiques and Farsonsdirect’s The Wine Shop in Mriehel (www.farsonsdirect.com).