8 minute read
The Rise of Native Wines - Cyprus
Cyprus wine has experienced a remarkable level of achievement over the past 15 years, all thanks to a new generation of dynamic winemakers who've inherited a legacy and passion for perfection. Their dedication to indigenous grape varieties is poised to make Cyprus a prominent name on the global wine map.
When speaking to Cyprus’ newest generation of talented winemakers, words like "interesting", "rising", and "exciting" are just a few of the adjectives buzzing around to describe the progress the island’s wines have achieved over the past decade and a half. A boutique wine industry that was in its infancy, producing wines riddled with basic faults, has finally matured, polishing its end product to the delight of both local and international wine connoisseurs.
FROM FLAW TO AWE
According to Sophocles Vlassides, a UC Davis graduate and winemaker at Vlassides Winery, a key development in this positive evolution has been the production of wines with no faults - something direly needed to elevate the reputation of the local industry. “It’s been more than five years that Cyprus has been making technically correct wines,” says Sophocles, an important step that has allowed local winemakers to be a lot more adventurous and to start tinkering with the “production of orange wines or bottlings from single vineyards, or wines that highlight local terroirs or use amphorae as in the ancient past”. Similarly, the market has witnessed a surge in sparkling wines, something unheard of on the island 15 years ago, with several brave producers releasing annual offerings of méthode traditionnelle or pétillant naturel bubblies.
A NEW GENERATION
These improvements are also rooted in a second generation of talented, highly-qualified winemakers taking over from their parents, who had started producing wine decades ago - mainly out of love. Orestis Tsiakkas, who has assumed winemaking duties from his father, Costas, at Tsiakkas Winery, reflects that his forebears “did not have the academic background to produce quality wines”. However, what they did do remarkably well was to “pass on their love and passion for winemaking to their children, who then went on to study winemaking”.
Orestis, for example, trained in France and brought back to his parents’ operation a wealth of knowledge, technical skills and innovative ideas on how to bring more prominence to their wines.
Furthermore, propelling these efforts into the future is the work carried out by WINECORE, a consortium of 15 wineries that have banded together to bring greater recognition at an international level to the local industry. This initiative, first brainstormed 15 years ago, originated from a visit by Cypriot winemakers and other local industry representatives to Parma and Reggio Emilia, to learn the story of Parmigiano Reggiano’s consortium, and how it had boosted the cheese’s brand and region successfully, while setting strict quality controls for its member producers. With this experience in tow, Cypriot winemakers took the leap four years ago to establish their own consortium, one “not focused on selling wine”, says Sophocles, “but aimed at showcasing Cypriot wine as a brand and letting the world know the island is producing very good wines with local indigenous varieties”.
At the centre of all these positive changes is the rediscovery– or discovery – of indigenous varieties neglected or forgotten by time. Varieties such as Yiannoudi, Morokanella, Spourtiko, Promara and Vasilisa grew interspersed among the vines of the more-ubiquitous Xynisteri and Mavro, but were never considered for wine production. Following valiant efforts by the late founder of Zambartas Wineries, Akis Zambartas, the KEO Winery in Mallia, and the Agriculture Ministry’s Viticulture Section to isolate and revive these grapes and vinify them as experiments, local winemakers realised the potential to create interesting, unique and 100-percent Cypriot wines was there for the taking.
Starting in 2008, explains Sophocles, Cypriot winemakers shifted their attention to many of these indigenous varieties, populating their vineyards and releasing limited quantities of wines to showcase the local grapes. Many of these vineyards are still young—no more than 10 or 15 years old —but have already shown what the island, its unique terroir, and a myriad of capable winemakers can accomplish.
In this vein, even the more established indigenous varieties, like Xynisteri, Mavro and Maratheftiko, have been receiving renewed and closer attention than in the past. Fikardos Fikardos, a second-generation winemaker of Fikardos Winery in Paphos, says Cyprus is “still at a relatively early stage for varieties like Morokanella, Vasilisa and Promara, but is now moving towards a more exciting area, one where winemakers have a deeper understanding of what already-established indigenous grapes like Xinisteri can offer us”. As a result, the quality of Xynisteri has improved across the board, with wineries like Fikardos applying different winemaking methods, technologies and vineyard management, or paying more attention to what different terroirs can offer via single vineyard bottlings.
Maratheftiko, despite its need to be cross-pollinated among other varieties, and propensity to suffer from millerandage - in which grape bunches contain berries varying greatly in size and maturity - has retained its allure, with Argyrides Winery leading the way in annually bottling this temperamental, but utterly seductive, variety. Its 2018 rendition—a wine showcasing this grape’s unique blueberry, violet and sweet spice notes—took home the Grand Gold Medal for Maratheftiko at the 2023 Cyprus Wine
Competition, racking up a 95+ out of 100 from a panel of judges made up of acclaimed international oenologists.
Similarly, Tsiakkas Winery has been at the forefront of the Mavro revival, a grape traditionally used to make Commandaria, and basic, usually flawed, table wines, served in carafes in many a household. Today, Orestis has brought Mavro back to its glory days with the Winery’s Mavro Mouklos, a bottling harking back to yesteryear, reminiscent of what grandparents used to make in their homes, yet much more refined, well-rounded and ethereal. “Keeping that true character of Mavro but, at the same time, making it truly enjoyable for the consumer, is a milestone I’m proud to have attained,” he adds.
Among all Cypriot varieties, however, Yiannoudi, a thick-skinned grape that produces powerful, tannic and deep reds, has emerged as the star, with many wineries embracing it. According to Sophocles, Yiannoudi is highly promising and, despite its inability to self-pollinate, as with the fickle Maratheftiko, it has shown to be easier to work with, as it cohabits well with both Xynisteri and Shiraz, and able to be helped via detailed pruning. These wines, which lend themselves to aging, can elicit warm aromas of dark fruit (cherries, blueberries and blackberries) and sweet spices (clove, nutmeg, anise and cinnamon), as the 2019 Oroman Yiannoudi by Vlassides or Fikardos Winery’s 2020 Yiannoudi, attest, both a perfect match for roast lamb and grilled meats.
FROM CYPRUS WITH LOVE
Ultimately, these heroic efforts with indigenous varieties have not been for naught, with global demand for Cypriot wines rapidly on the rise. Local bottles have reached the shores of 22 countries, many in Europe, plus the US, Canada, China, Russia and Israel, among others. More importantly, says Fikardos, recognition has come from abroad with “more and more journalists, sommeliers and Masters of Wine (MW) exploring what Cyprus has to offer” - a paradigm shift that saw Cyprus chosen to host the 2021 Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa competition, co-organised by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI), and the Cyprus Sommelier Association at the Four Seasons Hotel. Undoubtedly, the light shines bright for Cypriot wines. As these young vineyards, teeming with unique indigenous varieties, age with grace and deepen their roots into the dry Cypriot terroir, local wines are bound to grow in quality, recognition and appeal to both domestic and international markets. Of course, guiding them will be a second generation of winemakers, who have impressed the industry with unlimited knowledge, skills and innovative ideas, elevating the trade started by their parents more than 15 years ago. For now, it’s time to sit back, relax—glass of chilled Mavro Mouklos in hand—and wait for Cypriot wine to reach that next level of its potential; it’s definitely right around the corner.
