The Knights of Malta, who occupied the islands from 1530 until 1798, used to store their wine, while it awaited shipping to Malta, in a wooden building, the Winery, on the site where Da Luigi Restaurant & Wine Bar now stands.

In the 1720s Anton Manoel de Vilhena, Grandmaster of the Knights from 1722 to 1736, and in whose honour the street is named, provided funds to have the building re-constructed in local Gozo limestone.

At the same time, downhill from the Winery, and towards the water's edge, he built the Barracca, where Knights and their horses waited for the ferries across to Malta, and where they received refreshment, supplied from the Winery - usually following a few days of arduous falconry on Gozo.

The legendary Maltese Falcon (one live bird of which the Knights paid as token tribute and rent for the islands to King Charles V of Spain) was hunted to extinction many years ago, but a sub-species, the Gozo falcon, survived around the cliffs of ta' Cenc until 1980s.

In more recent years the Winery was converted into the harbour's jail - the cells were where the kitchen is today - and for many years, starting under British rule, a Blue lamp, familiar symbol of Britain's police force, hung prominently above the door.

The building was restored to its original use as a winery only in 1998, and started serving food two years later.

This little restaurant and wine bar not only serves local cuisine but also boasts of a large selection of whiskeys and wines not available anywhere else on the Island. Located within walking distance of the ferry, right on the waterfront at the Mgarr fisherman's Harbour, dine in or outdoor in a very relaxed atmosphere.