This New Valletta Waterfront Wine Bar Lets You Pour Your Own
Wine tasting usually comes with a certain amount of ceremony. Someone pours, someone explains, everyone nods thoughtfully and occasionally pretends they can detect wet stone. Vinomad has decided to hand over the controls.
Vinomad comes from the team behind The Brew Grill & Brewery in Sliema and Ribs House by The Brew in Naxxar. Having already built concepts around craft beer and grilled food, they’ve now turned their attention to wine.
The newly opened Valletta Waterfront wine bar has more than 100 wines by the glass, all centred around a self-pour concept that lets you taste, compare and explore the collection at your own pace. It’s essentially a wine tasting without the prescribed route, and with considerably more freedom to change your mind.
Split across two levels, the space has vaulted stone ceilings, an illuminated staircase, glass balustrades and oversized sculptural pendant lights suspended through the centre. Downstairs, rows of wine machines hint at where things get interesting.
So, how does it work?
For most tables, Vinomad provides one card with a €100 limit, so there’s no need to top anything up first. Everyone at the table can use it to taste from the machines, and whatever you pour is added to the bill. Reach the €100 limit, settle it, and the card is opened up for another €100.
If everyone wants their own card, or you’re visiting as a larger group, there’s also a prepaid option that can be topped up with credit. Either way, the process from there is the same: choose a wine, insert the card and select your pour: 25ml for a taste, 125ml for a glass or 175ml if deliberation is over.
The selection runs through reds, whites, rosés and orange wines from around the world, so the 25ml option is where things get particularly interesting. Try something unfamiliar, compare a few regions or grapes, then go back for a proper glass once you’ve found your winner. Wine commitment issues, finally accommodated.
But wait, there’s food…
There’s a fairly substantial food menu too, rather than the obligatory bowl of olives quietly holding the fort. Cheese and charcuterie are, naturally, well represented, with a whole section dedicated to cheese specialities alongside dishes including Cantabrian anchovy toast, pulled pork croquettes, Padron peppers with smoked salt, beef tostadas and octopus tostadas.
The Josper grill gets involved too, with dishes including Patagonian-style sea bream, king prawns, octopus, roasted cauliflower, pork and chicken, plus more substantial options elsewhere on the menu.
And if wine isn’t your thing, nobody is going to make you sit there with sparkling water while everyone else conducts a tasting experiment. There are classic cocktails and a beer selection covering lagers, IPAs, stouts and more.
More than 100 wines and nobody forcing you to commit to an entire glass before deciding you hate it. Sensible, really.
Vinomad
Vault 13, Valletta Waterfront
Floriana
Website
