Tag Archives: cyprus wine

Vouni Panayia Winery New Visual Identity

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Capturing a time and a place in Panayia.

The passing of generations of winemaking in Panayia has bred life for a new generation with passion, great care and enthusiasm inspired by Andreas Kyriakides and family which have place with relentless faith in indigenous grapes cultivated exclusively in the winery’s vineyards carrying all distinctiveness of the Panayia region.

The Mouflon still plays a prominent role on the label, standing prominently, a clear reflection of mountain viticulture. Although a much younger stylized icon with the letter V as a unique element common to the newly designed labels symbolizing the new generation of Kyriakides family that play an active part nowadays in running the winery.

vouni panayia winery new identity

A newly redesign of it’s visual identity, Vouni Panayia Winery opens itself to a renewal with the launch of new labels that unveil the past, focus on the present and looks towards the future as a reflection of the foundations and vision of the family winery incorporates younger winemaking generation. All wines from Vouni Panayia Winery will incorporate new label design.

Mondial du Rosé, a natural habitat for Maratheftiko

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Honor to Rosés and honor to the Mondial du Rosé competition with Cyprus Wine.

Maratheftiko Rosé captures silver at the Mondial du Rosé Competition

Recent participation of Sodap Wines in this 10th edition of the international competition Le Mondial du Rosé evokes not only the constancy of a Rosé winemaking in Cyprus but also the natural adequacy which the endemic Maratheftiko has for making splendid rosés. The question remains as to why there aren’t more wineries participating in this annual event organised by the French Union of Oenologues.

Rosé owes this achievement to the ambition and determination of winegrowers and producers to master the highly complex technical and wine-making specifics these wines require.

Indeed, a category of wines that has legitimately outgrown clichés of summer  and picture perfect vacation wines. It is thus that not only we celebrate the Silver Medal for Stroumbeli Maratheftiko Rosé but also our most sincere congratulations to the organisers for reaching such a significant milestone.

Meet me all the way in Limassol with a thirst for Cyprus

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That’s our pledge: to meet you half-way today with an open appetite for a Nature of Wine made in Cyprus.

I’ll spare you the pity, envy and the pleas for help.

We are of the idea, that only the goodness, of what one has genetically to offer, is what will prevail. The culture is there, the assets and the people, what remains is a bit of coordination for a common agenda.

Over 6.000 years of winemaking on the island can’t be made wrong by a generation of leadership ill-prepared for that changing nature of modern society which has overtaken them. Here’s to a grand generalisation!

Yet, it’s all around us, and it seems already for too long, that we have been short-changing our efforts, working at odds with each other and increasing the costs for meaningful progress. This affects current branches of government and the boards of semi-public organisations hungry for that presidential decree of renewal. There is still hope , hope that the bail-out crisis is put behind us swiftly, because that’s where it belongs. We make the following words ours too:

We live this unique moment, as a time to assert our readiness to meet you halfway in creating those vital experiences for you to treasure.

Today, it’s in Limassol.  Tomorrow, let’s plan to meet you there.

Limassol Greets it’s Winemakers – Cyprus Wine Tasting

Pictured Clockwise: Casks at Etko Winery, Wine Country Ayios Amvrosios, Maratheftiko Red from Makkas, Nicolaides Winemaker and Xynisteri from Tsangarides Winery

OIV rules apply to the Cyprus Wine Competition

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Cyprus Wine Competition adheres to the OIV rules for judging and  the process can strongly impact  judges unfamiliar with the strict judging protocol.

OIV rules apply to the Cyprus Wine Competition

Judging under OIV rules in Cyprus, work with more feel

If the judging competitions risks resembling a grammar school dream class (not the case above), achieving consensus can in some cases provoke for discussions and re-tasting wines until final note is awarded, dexterity here to be played by the judge presiding the panel.

The 2012 juding in Cyprus presided for the third consecutive year by Rowald Hepp, included testimonial of exception in the name of Tom Cannavan as participating judge can also  attests that the OIV rules can be needlessly strict, especially in the case of those categories where the set of participating wines is extremely reduced.

Although we’re less optimistic about the OIV reviewing it’s rules by the next edition of the Cyprus Wine Competition, we do count that the same high level of performance and world class judging will be performed under the OIV rules as in the past editions.

The upcoming edition of the 2013 Cyprus Wine Competition will be celebrated in Cyprus during the last week of May, from the 28th until the 31st of May, 2013 in Cyprus.

2012 Judging panel was composed of 9 judges: Miroslav Kalinic, Vasos Manoli, Denis Rudenko, Tamas Oroszlan,Maria Tzitzi, David Seijas, Jean Luc Berger, and Tom Cannavan presided by Rowald Hepp.

Befriending Chardonnay and a taste for International Grapes

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The world’s most celebrated grape? Chardonnay may be among the most planted grape variety and perhaps also the friendliest grape in the world.  

From it’s natural adaptability,  it reflects trust-worthily either the terroir of where it’s grown or the art of the winemaker, it acquires willingly a certain sense of place.

“Queen” of white wine grapes, it is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.  Burgundy being it’s spiritual home where some of the finest dry white wines are poised to express dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvelous elegance and balance.

Continue reading →

Baïcchus: The high altitude Tour of Europe’s vineyards

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What has cycling, vineyards, wine and altitude have to do with Cyprus? On paper, apparently nothing.


Baïcchus Tour

European Travel Tour in search of Vineyards of Altitude

Following the path from the Alps to the Caucasian mountain tops of Georgia, there is an adventure to be made to the remote winemaking and vine caring regions of Europe. Inspired by a CERVIM collaborator through the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture, Mickaël Olivon, will take him on a route to to understand high altitude Viticulture, their climate, topography their soils and human task in the adventure of cultivating vines at such challenging heights and wine regions remote to industrial winemaking. This is an effort that focuses on binding mutual experiences and federating know-how to put into value the uniqueness of winemaking.  But as you can observe from the red-dot line, there is a slight glitch to the diagram from this position which I slightly find annoying. None of this explorative trip will come in touch with viticulture as practiced in Cyprus such as Panayia and Pitsilia wine regions.

Panayia Wine Region - Cyprus Wine

The question we put forward today: If to knowledgeable professionals you’re not making it on the map to be visited, explored and understood for it’s uniqueness and singularities- Are there higher chances to be on the wine tasting map of consumers?

Isn’t progress in wine appreciation today about cultivating uniqueness and singularities? I’m not asking how we have come to this and who’s responsibility this is, I’m only signaling out a symptom of a reality as seen from the outside. But is it a reality we wish to change? Because we can talk about high altitude viticulture, terrasses, soils, terroirs and even highest altitude wineries, but if we’re not on the map, this can be too easily be confused with cheap talk and waist of opportunity that no ProWein event can compensate.

So while we work on these and many other issues, I do invite you to explore the work of the Cervim (Centre de Recherches, d’Etudes et de Valorisation de la Viticulture de Montage) presided by François Murisier, who’s bi-anual symposium brought together last year more than 600 wines to compete according to specific mountain viticulture  – and do follow the Baïchus Tour throught the links provided below in hope that more tours such as these can also be pursued on the island.

As it is still bottling season do join us in wishing Good wines and  Kαλά κρασιά σε ολους.

Media links of Baïcchus Tour
* Bourgogne Live et ses fortes pentes
* VinoVelo.fr  baicchus-tour
* The Baïcchus Web Presents

* Update 13/2/13

We are happy to announce that  Mickaël Olivon will be in condition to foresee  the Baïcchus tour of  mountain viticulture to be coming in Cyprus around February 2014.  Great news confirmed to us by email.

Cyprus Wine: A Mediterranean Quintessence

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Cyprus can be known its amalgam of flavors distilled and interlaced for centuries anchored in the cultural pot of the eastern Mediterranean.

An inspiration of tastes from different culinary traditions in the Eastern Mediterranean basin; Cyprus has influences from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon & Syria and with clear traces from from Egypt, Southern Italy, France, and Spain.

cyprus-wines-experience-taste.jpg Beyond the fruit of the wild abundance of natural ingredients that the generous soils of Cyprus withhold, it’s undeniable that the island bears the gift of goodness.
It is therefore only natural that Cyprus Wines breathes this heritage, and serves as a unique platform for tasty experiences.

Gladly, we are not alone in sharing this belief, thus the present effort through the Cyprus Wine Project is made to agglutinate the best in Winemaking from Cyprus with the hope sharing aspirations and exceeding expectations in taste and experiences

It is not without countless collaborations, do we hope to achieve this purpose and hope that you join us in this Journey.

Thank you for your visit.

Taste to a Wine Journey with character while in Cyprus

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Can you picture a Journey of 5000 years of Winemaking tradition?

It’s only too often that an industry employs itself to modernize itself and sometimes at the expense of valuing its heritage and enhancing the past.

The efforts of consolidated work with international varieties has been accomplished and if we’re to judge by the outstanding results from the 7th Annual awards, vinification of traditional indigenous varieties as Maratheftiko (for red and rosé wines) and the white grape Xynisteri have experimented a renewed interest for a promising future.   Continue reading →

Cyprus Wine Awards distinguishes Cyprus Wine Products Council Mission

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In it’s 7th year edition, the Cyprus Wine Competition held during April 25-27, has consolidated itself as the launch pad for quality wines in Cyprus.

Cyprus Gold Awards - 7th Wine competitionAt the award ceremony last night,  while addressing invited authorities, winemakers, international judges and distinguished guests, Mr. Ionnides, deputy director of the Cyprus Wine Products Council, highlighted the importance of the competition as a lauch pad for Cyprus Wines but also as a demonstration of strict quality from the guiding rules of blind tastings as specified by the cannons of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, OIV. Continue reading →