Meridiana has its roots in 1985 as a result of a conversation between Mark Miceli-Farrugia, a trader in wines for over 20 years, and a Bordeaux oenologist.

The latter persuaded Mark that there was potential for high-quality wine growing in Malta. As a consequence, Meridiana Wine Estate was established in April 1987. The company's pioneering mission is to produce "World-Class Wines of Maltese Character" - internationally acclaimed wines made from wine-grapes grown exclusively in Maltese soil. Until then, all "Maltese wine" was produced from a mixture of table-grapes, imported wine-grapes, and sugar.

Up to this day, Meridiana stands alone in Malta in militating for the enaction of internationally endorsable wine regulations which ban the addition of sugar to Maltese wine; Meridiana is also insisting that such regulations distinguish truly Maltese-grown wine from imported make-believes.

In 1987, experimentation with various grape varieties, clones and rootstocks was initiated on a small agricultural plot in Siggiewi. Meanwhile, after extensive research, a 19-hectare (47-acre) agricultural site was identified at Ta' Qali, Malta's agricultural heartland. The Estate lies scenically below the ancient, walled-city of Mdina.

A financial and technological partnership agreement with Marchese Piero Antinori helped overcome local financial institutions' reservations to this novel initiative. Marchese Antinori descends from the oldest established vintning family in the world and brings with him a wealth of experience acquired in Tuscany and the New World.

The European Investment Bank opportunely advanced 30 percent of the project's equity finance on a venture capital basis.

The Ta'Qali Wine Estate was planted in 1994 and 1995 with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Petit Verdot. The vineyard is drained by a herring-bone system laid by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The water flows into a large underground cistern which is used to supply the vineyard's 91,000 individual drip-feed irrigators.

A picturesque, purpose-built winery was completed in 1996, constructed from the characteristic, local, chalk-coloured limestone. State-of-the-art, individually temperature-controlled fermenters are set within a process area conditioned to 21C. The winery's underground cellars are passively cooled to within 18 to 22 C.

The first harvest of a limited quantity of red and white wines took place in 1995 and 1996 respectively, with the first (1996) release of both wines being sold out within months. Since then, despite the annual increase in vine yields, domestic demand has been so high that the Company's wines have sold out within months. Nevertheless, the company has reserved limited quantities of its wines for export to Belgium, France and Singapore. Maximum production of 140,000 bottles should be reached by the harvest year of 2002.

The name Meridiana and the Estate's sundial insignia have been inspired by Malta's Southern European location.