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Cyprus Life - Cyprus Wines Are Now A Global Celebration

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    Inforrmation For Cyprus Expats On The Cyprus Wine Making Industy

    AUSTRIA. BELGIUM. CZECHOSLOVAKIA. GERMANY.

    GREECE. JAPAN. KUWAIT. EMIRATES.

    ‘Wine is the most civilised thing in the world.’  
     Ernest Hemingway.

    ‘I have enjoyed great health at a great age because every day since I can remember, I have consumed a bottle of wine, except, when I have not felt well, then I have consumed two bottles.’ 
    Bishop of Seville.

    The Original Vineyard in the Sun.

    Cyprus can lay claim to being the oldest commercial wine producing country in the world. Old coins recently excavated from a site in Paphos date back to the 3rd century BC, that show a vine embossed on one side of the coin, a wine chalice from the 6th century BC has inscribed on the base ‘be happy and drink well’ both of these ‘finds’ clearly illustrate the importance of wine in the daily life of Cyprus at that time. Cyprus also supplied large quantities of wine to the Pharaohs of Egypt, and they were also in great demand from the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Of course the wine then, and the wine produced now, differ tremendously, with ‘back then’ sweet wine, was the popular choice. The enormous changes that have taken place in Cyprus with regard to the professional cultivation and making of wine really started in the early 80’s.

    ‘In Vino Veritas’ (in wine there is truth.)  
    Grapes are the world’s number one fruit crop, with over 20 million acres of land having been planted worldwide, with 10,000 different varieties of grapes, producing an annual crop of more than 25,000 million bottles of wine. According to the Wine and Spirit Association, wine is defined as ‘an alcoholic beverage obtained from the juice of freshly gathered grapes, the fermentation of which has been carried through, in the district of its origin, and according to local tradition and practice’. This definition acknowledges the benefits wine brings; these are contained in the whole grape, in its sugar content, its juice, including water, its skin and the whole of its pulp, all these spring from the particular type of soil in which the grape is grown.

    Wine has been credited with possessing so many organic chemical compounds, it is considered to be more complex than human blood serum. These benefits are due to the natural qualities in the grape which even after many thousands of years of cultivation, no-one has ever been able to explain fully, and still, there remains a bit of a mystery about wine, which even modern day scientists have so far been unable to penetrate. After the soil, the quality, and character, of a wine is influenced by the natural ferments, or yeast cells, which by the time they are picked, have formed on the outside of the grape skins, these are ready to get to work as soon as the grape is crushed and the sugar content is released.

    This is the ABC of wine, making-the yeast or ferments, which are organic cells, these feed on the sugar contained in the grape, breaking it down into alcohol, and carbon dioxide, and they in turn are killed off by the alcohol they have produced. Sounds simple enough, but any one of our Cypriot wine makers will tell you that in fact the process is quite complicated, and yes, there are things that can go wrong. The yeast cells, for example, can work only within a fairly narrow temperature range; they die, or become useless, if the outside temperature is too cold, or if the heat generated by their own activity rises above a certain level. If the fermentation ceases before a proper balance has been achieved between the sugar and the alcohol, the wine will then be left with a highly vulnerable sugar content which, sooner or later will be open to a full attack by other airborne bacteria, such as the dreaded vinegar bacteria, and we all know from bitter experience what a sip of that wine will taste like. Then you also have the problems faced with storing, expensive oak casts or vats can sometimes be faulty, and spoil the entire contents, wine is also terribly sensitive to it’s surroundings, it is after all a living thing, and will take on the smell of a dirty cellar, or the taste of a rotten barrel stave. Our Cypriot winemakers all act as dedicated midwives, to their his new born wine, bringing to the birth;-experience, know how, patience, plus lots of passion, only then will there be born a fine healthy vintage.

    Wine is for everyone.

    Fact is, if you are fortunate enough to grow up in a wine producing country, then wine is as natural to drink, as beer is to an Englishman; wine in these countries will always be the automatic choice to accompany ones meals. There is a vivid picture in mind of being on a very posh wine tour of France, looking out from the place where the wine experts were testing the wine, there in a field, seated beneath the shelter of a tree, sat a French labourer, in one hand he held a large slice of French bread stuffed with sausage, in the other he clutched a bottle of wine. It would only have been be a complete fool who speculated on the label on that bottle, for of course there was no label. That man was drinking his own wine, he made it with vines that had produced grapes for his great great grandfather, he sat there content, ate his sausage sandwich, and drank his wine with relish, which only confirms that to be truly happy, a man must drink, also ensure his friends, family and children will all learn to drink wine naturally, without any snobbery or pretentious nonsense.

    Trust in your Taste.

    One of the first rules for anyone wishing to learn about wine is to learn to trust his or her own palate, to start to believe in its ability to sense subtle changes, and detect harmonies or disharmonies. Next, always have the courage to change your mind, as ones experience grows, and your perception grows keener, wines that you once thought to be fine become less than acceptable or, may even become boring. Since there is no absolute standard of perfection, quality must always remain relative and your appreciation entirely a personal one.

    Open to New Tastes.

    The very best wine is the one which, in the opinion of the majority is better than any other, a wine which needs no improvement. Wine must always be approached with an open mind, plus a keenness to accept it as it is. Listening to the opinion of others is good, but so is the ability to accept ones own palate.

    Tickling the Palate.

    One’s palate if exposed regularly enough to new, and different tastes, will quickly pick up on what is a good wine, and what is not. The key factors which are common to all good wines are: - an absence of any unpleasant flavour, honesty of production, soundness of construction, purity of origin and positiveness of character. By this means, the wine maybe pleasant, or unpleasant, in varying degrees, mind you all wine has an unpleasant taste to people who dislike wine, so that unpleasant wine will always taste bitter, sour, acid, or taste of cork, wood or yeasts.

    Pure and Simple.

    Honest production is credited to a winery that has not, overly interfered with the wine because Nature has failed in some way, then man has cleverly worked to find a remedy, or in some cases a way of disguising the defect, or worse when man decides to improve on nature’s methods thus falsifying the wines. Purity of origin is also important, the credentials of a good wine are as important as a top racehorse’s pedigree.

    Cyprus Winemaking Actively Encouraged.

    Under the auspices of the Cyprus Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, wine making in rural areas was actively encouraged; this was seen as a way to support those rural villages which were not benefiting from the booming seaside tourist trade. Small makers of wines were given licences to operate wineries of between 50,000 and 300,000 bottles a year. One of the first to go into high calibre production with German know how, and technology, was the Chrysoriatissa Monastery resulting in the Ayios Andronicos label, which is now rated as one of the five top white wines originating in Cyprus. A decade later there was a veritable explosion of small wineries setting up, all of whom were nursed along by the expertise on hand from the Government Oenology department. They in turn invested in the experimentation of different vines, gave assistance with planting, and importantly gave of their expertise when it came to the growing, and actual wine making. Many a winery has a lot to thank the Oenology department, as do the ordinary public along with the visitors who imbibe whilst here on holiday, for here we have a true success story, with the people, and the state working together to achieve a mutually beneficial and highly successful and internationally recognised wine business.

    Cyprus, in proportion to its size and population, holds the highest production rate of grapes in the world. Additionally, vineyards cover the largest percentage of semi mountainous and mountainous land of Cyprus, where it is not financially viable to cultivate anything else. The vine may thrive from sea level up to an altitude of 1,500 metres above the sea level.

    The black grapevine Mavro, unique to Cyprus, makes up the bulk of most red wines, whilst the more pungent, higher acidity varieties like Maratheftiko and Ofthalmo continue to grow in popularity, making interesting reds that continue to grow in popularity. The Xynisteri is the main wine grape, which makes a fresh, light-tasting and pleasing white wine and the majority of whites are made mainly from it.

    "Foreign" varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Carignan Noir, Mataro, Chardonnay, even Semillon, have been successfully introduced in the past 20 years and are used for blending with Mavro or Xynisteri, as well as producing small quantities of "varietal" wines. Some of these clearly show their provenance.

    Cyprus has long had the problem of having wine-making plants a long way from the vineyards, meaning that all too often grapes have not arrived at the winery in the best condition. Apart from taking positive measures to speed up this process, the big companies KEO, ETKO, SODAP and LOEL, are making much of their premium quality wines near the grapes. ETKO have built a plant in the wine hills at Omodhos, with a million-bottle a year capacity, and KEO have bought the Laona winery at Arsos, with similar capability, and have spent millions of pounds on redeveloping and re-equipping wineries at Pera Pedi and Mallia, where they have also cleared and re-planted hundreds of hectares of vineyards.

    Of great help to vine growers and wine makers is the recently renamed Vines and Wines Institute of Limassol, founded in 1971 and run by highly qualified personnel, who among many advisory and practical activities make small quantities of wines from virtually every area and every grape variety grown in Cyprus. These show which varieties can make good everyday wines, as well as potentially great ones. According to some authorities, like Hugh Johnson, the great wine of Cyprus is the very sweet dessert wine "Commandaria".

    Ambeli: The Vineyard.

    Cyprus is the ideal place for the growth of the vineyard, due to its warm, dry climate. The cultivation of the "ambeli" on the island began from the prehistoric period, just as it had been done in other Mediterranean countries of similar climatic conditions.

    Initially, the vine was a self-reproducing plant, whilst in later periods, its systematic cultivation began. This conclusion can be drawn from the study done on fossilised grape seeds that were found in excavations.

    The vine is a long-living, deciduous plant, which climbs, and due to this, supported at times in its life, helping it grow. The leaves are heart shaped, and in periods of bloom, the buds are small and green. The fruit - the grapes, are sweet with 2 to 4 seeds, and colours ranging from deep red to yellow-green, depending on the type. Depending on the variety, the size of the grapes also changes. There are many criteria in which the variation of grapes may be divided, but the basic distinction is made according to use - whether they are used for production of wine or not.

    The vine is of the few plants in which its cultivation goes back to ancient times, and extends from China to Asia Minor. One of the most ancient countries of the vineyard is Egypt, were different seeds were found in many of the oldest tombs, one of which being Omari from 4,500 AD. Additionally, the vineyard is depicted in many coloured wall paintings on the inside of tombs in "Memphida" and in "Thibes". The vineyard is also mentioned in articles by the Hebrews in the Old Testament.

    The vine is related to various myths of different civilisations, such as of the Persians, the Indians, the Armenians, etc. Each culture has helped in the advancements in cultivation of the vine, as well as in the production of wine (which was equated to possessing a godly gift). The Greeks had Dionysos, The Indians had God Soma, the Egyptians had Osiris, the Romans Baucus, and the Jews had Noah.

    During the first Christian years, the cultivation of vineyards in Cyprus proved to be important. This confirmed by the fact that even traditional culture talks of it. According to this, when St.Lazarus, after his resurrection, and his persecution by the Jews for his miracles, arrived in Cyprus he came to shore somewhere in Larnaca. Tired and hungry, he asked an old lady, an owner of a vineyard, for some grapes. The old lady denied his request, informing Lazarus that all her vines had dried up. The saint was angry with the old lady's lies and ordered that from now on all her vines would wither and die, and a salt lake would appear in their place. The miracle, according to the legend, occurred, and the Salt Lake was formed.

    In the House of Dionysos in Kato Paphos, there exist famous multi-coloured mosaics that depict scenes of cultivation of the vineyards. In writings by St. Neophytos, who lived around the end of the 12th century, we are given worthwhile information about the vineyards of Cyprus.  

    Many foreign explorers mention the vineyards of Cyprus and talk especially of its exquisite wine. In 1844, the French ambassador to Cyprus, M.Fourcade, sent reports to the French government stating that the vineyards covered 21.3% of the island. Two thirds of these were in the district of Limassol, while the remaining one third was in the districts of Paphos, Larnaca, Kyrenia and Famagusta.  
     
    Later, during the Turkish rule of 1868 - 1872, taxes were placed on the production of wine and other alcoholic drinks in Cyprus, and the vineyard cultivation received serious wounds. The hassle and exploitation the farmers experienced forced these people into a situation where the sight of the tax-man alone was enough for them to pour the wine on the ground. This was because the expense was much higher than the gains felt, taking into consideration all the effort of their labours.

    In the following decades, the vineyard cultivation started to expand with a faster growth rate in other parts of the island, as well. This was contributed to mainly by the increasing demand for grapes from five new wine producing companies, which were founded in 1910 in the district of Pera Pedi, Mallia, and as well as in Limassol. The need for the formation of these companies lay in the sharp increase in demand for Cypriot wines abroad. During the last decades of the 19th century, the vineyards of Europe were destroyed by a virus of dry-leaf, whilst the Cypriot vineyards had not been harmed. The high prices that were offered for Cypriot wines also contributed to the expansion of cultivation of the Ambelia. The new vineyards were planted with a local, dark type of grape, as this variety was more marketable.

    During the period of the two World Wars, a further growth in the vineyard cultivation was noted, as the wine could be bottled and sold at a later time. After the end of the Second World War, however, the European wine producing countries regained their overseas markets once again, at about the same time that the new vineyards in Cyprus had started bearing fruit. This had, as an effect, the identification of various problems arising with the increase of the vineyard production. The problems escalated in 1949, which led to the foundation of Programme for the Vineyard products, with the aim of more effectively dealing with the problems.

     
    With the passing of time, and with thanks to the development and expansion of existing, as well as new members of the wine producing industry, the exploration of new markets, and the increase tourism, the wine producing industry will always remain as one of the most important sectors of the Cypriot economy.

    The Ambeli is for Cyprus, one of the most significant, large scale cultivations of the island just as it has been over many centuries. The fruit of the ambeli - the grape, as well as its derivatives, has been and will continue to be a vital source of income for thousands of families in Cypriot villages. The principal produce of the grape in Cyprus include different types and quality of wine; "zivania" - a very strong alcoholic aperitif; raisins; "shoushoukko"; "kkiofterkia"; "palouze"; and port.

    From 1969, legislation was passed offering government subsidy on vineyard cultivations, with the objective to aid farmers and improve output. By 1971, a plan was laid down with the purpose of replacing older and non productive vineyards with new ones.  

    Today in Cyprus many different vineyards are cultivated, the wine producing kind as well as not, both local variations and new European families that have been imported over the last few years. Few of these variations are the dark, local type, "Palomino", "Malaga", "Soultanina", "Rozaki", "Veriko", etc.

    The Grape in History and its coming to Cyprus.

    It is probably true that there has been a commercial wine industry in Cyprus longer than anywhere else in the world. Whilst this may give rise to romantic promotional gambits like "Four thousand years of Tradition", it is no guarantee of good wine today. Thankfully, though, there is plenty of good wine to drink in Cyprus at the present time, but this is due to the skill of modern wine makers and their equipment rather than inherited traditions.

    The wild vine from which our modern grape varieties descended (a very long time ago) undoubtedly grew in Cyprus and the bitter small fruits were probably collected and dried by man. The cultivation of vines for dessert fruit and wine is relatively recent. In fact it seems that the grape was first brought near man's home and cultivated in the Black Sea area around 8,000 years ago. From there it spread slowly south-eastwards to Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt, from whence it travelled across the Mediterranean to Greece, on to Italy, and so on.

    There is much evidence to suggest that the country which had the greatest wine industry for the longest period was Syria, from around 3,000 BC or before, until about 1000 AD, when Islam held sway and banned the production of alcohol. It is known that in that early period, 5,000 years ago, Syrian farmers came to Cyprus and, although there is no evidence to prove it, I am personally convinced they would have brought their wine-producing grapes with them.

    And so, when the Greeks and Romans came to Cyprus several millennia later, I think they would have found wine already here, but probably of a very different style to the wines they were accustomed to.

    Because of problems with sealing vessels to protect the wine from oxidisation from the air, most early wines would have been sweet and the tradition of such wines in Cyprus was born. Sweet wines not only oxidise more slowly, but they travel better then dry wines. So callers to the Cyprus of old would have stocked their boats with the sweet wines of Cyprus.

    Not a lot of historical evidence exists to describe the wines of Cyprus between the Greco-Roman periods and the Middle Ages, when Cyprus endured drought, pestilence and regular wars. In the 11th century, when the Crusades commenced, Cyprus wines became recorded and praised. The most noted proponent, at least insofar as legend and wine promotion have it, was Richard the Lion Heart. From his sojourn here and those of the various Orders of Knights, came the generic description of the sweet wines of Cyprus: "Commandaria".

    Commandaria, by law, today has certification of origin, which stipulates types of grapes, regions of production and methods. For such a delicious sweet wine it is a remarkable bargain.

    As the centuries passed, writers, priests, explorers, soldiers and rulers praised the sweet wines of Cyprus, bought them, shipped them and drank them. Invasion followed invasion. Four hundred years of Lusignan rule, ending in 1489, was followed by the Venetians (1489-1571), who found the place bankrupt. The Ottomans invaded in 1571 and stayed until 1878, when they surrendered the island to Britain. In all this period there was not a lot done for the vine grower, especially under the Turks, who extracted iniquitous triple taxes from vine-growers and wine-makers.

    Apart from taxes, one aspect of the Turkish period was that they allocated the better land to people of their faith, leaving the Cypriots of the Orthodox Church the higher, less fertile ground, whose only useful crop was the hardy vine.

    During the Dark Ages, the Defenders of the Faith, the Monasteries, all over Europe were also "Defenders of the Grape", protecting the heritage if the vine left by the Roman Empire, and ensuring that the making of good wines, spirits and liqueurs carried on. There is no doubt that this tradition held true in Cyprus.

    There are records of a winery at Chrysorioyiatissa Monastery in the 18th. Century and, no doubt, wines and liqueurs have been made elsewhere over the centuries.

    But it is in the 19th Century that the foundations of the modern industry were laid. The House of Haggipavlu was founded in 1844, when the company made the purchase of a second sailing vessel, the "Saint Peter" to add to the first, the "Alexander" bought in 1825. These vessels took exports of wine in barrels all over the eastern Mediterranean.

    By the early 1870's, it seemed that exports could rocket to colossal levels, when the Phylloxera beetle struck and decimated every vine growing area in Europe except Cyprus. The French, and others, demanded thousand of barrels from Cyprus to meet demand for wine and the Cypriots thought their bonanza days had come. But the French quickly passed laws restricting imports, to force the local industry to be re-built and Cyprus' boom time faded away.

    In 1875 the British leased Cyprus from Turkey and it seemed better days would come. But there were still taxes, and little investment for this small part of the Great British Empire. In 1889 the Cypriots sent a delegation to London to lobby for a reduction in import duties on Cyprus wines, but without success. But the local industry proceeded undeterred. In 1893, the Haggipavlu family, by then making spirits as well as wines, built the first modern winery in Sanaja in the Limassol district, with proper presses and fermentation tanks of stone.

    Around the same time, an English family, the Chaplins, built a large wine-making plant at the village of Pera Pedi, just below Platres and starting making wine in fairly large quantities. Both these wineries would have made dry wines, from the local grapes, "Xynisteri" (white) and "Mavro" (red), which, as I suggest earlier, were from vines that had been in Cyprus for many hundreds if not thousands of years.

    These were the years of the British Empire, with a strong presence in the Middle East, especially after World War I, from 1918 onwards. So the wine and spirits industry of Cyprus prospered, with exports to all the places where the British were present: Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, even to the Arabian Gulf, as well as to the French in Lebanon and Syria.

    As the new century started (on January 1st 1901) there were two up-to-date wine making plants in Cyprus, the Chaplin family's at Per Pedhi and the Haggipavlu's at Sanaja, both in the Limassol district. However, Haggipavlu were developing a big distilling business, based on brandy and wine became rather secondary. But sales of products based on the grape grew steadily.

    In 1927 a group of Cypriot business houses headed by Lanitis formed KEO, with the objective of expanding modern wine production and in 1928 they purchased the Chaplin family winery and shortly afterwards started the construction of a second at Mallia. As their wines came on to the market, a tacit agreement existed between KEO and Haggipavlu that one would concentrate on wine and the other on brandy. This came to an end in 1935 when KEO opened a brandy distillery in Limassol, and Haggipavlu countered by purchasing the largest privately owned winery in Limassol and developing it into ETKO.

    The third of the "Big Four", LOEL was formed in 1943, through a breakaway of trades’ union members from ETKO, following a strike. This was, and is, a co-operative company run on socialist principles which were to develop a big business with the countries of the Communist block. The fourth company, SODAP (The Vine Products Co-operative Marketing Union Ltd.) is also a co-operative, founded in 1947 by the vine-growers themselves, to "protect the rights of the growers".

    Despite World War II the Cyprus industry prospered. Although not a lot was done for it by the British, markets were available because of the British and French presence in the Middle East, which created a demand for wines and spirits produced in Cyprus. Development resulted from the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the Cypriots running the Big Four. Good cheap brandy and other distilled products could always command a market, as could good grape juice, either in its natural form or fermented.

    So the sales executives of KEO, ETKO, LOEL and SODAP began to travel the world looking for opportunities.

    Fortified wine, that is to say wine strengthened and stabilised by the addition of brandy or other spirit, was already popular in Northern markets and the Cypriots had started making 'Cyprus Sherry' in 1937. But it was in the late 1940's that it really started to take off. Incredibly cheap, EMVA Cream and many other brands started sweeping into the UK market - not yet the wine loving one it is today, but one that consumed millions of gallons of "sticky" port or sherry, or imitations thereof, at Christmas and other celebratory times.

    All over the world Cyprus sold its vine products; concentrated grape juice, pure alcohol for translation into vodka and other spirits, Sangria and other fruit juice laced wines, whilst developing its growing local market as the tourism industry began its upward surge.

    For more than thirty years, the Cyprus wine industry was "The Big Four": KEO, ETKO, SODAP and LOEL, who produced very similar lines of wines, spirits, liqueurs and other by products of grape juice. They were, and are, essentially businesses, whose function is the utilisation of a basic raw material (grape juice) to make commercially viable products to be sold around the world in one form or another. The object is to produce profits or dividends for the shareholders, whether they were family members, grape growers or investors large or small.

    In the 1950's and 1960's the world was demanding low-priced products and Cyprus supplied them - dry, medium and sweet "Cyprus Sherry", table wines sold in bulk to Britain (where it turned up in bottles with brand names like "Hirondelle") and other countries, by the million litres. Wine, or "Plonk" to give its vernacular title, was the party drink and you took as much as you could buy for a pound or two.

    Then came "wine lakes" and the drive by marketing men for "quality", wines bottled in the country of origin. Cyprus began to look at the nature of its industry, small labour intensive hillside vineyards producing indigenous grape varieties that didn't match the demand for wines made from varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay; time and distance between the vines and the wineries which meant that grapes were "stale" by the time they got to the factory; and out of date marketing techniques.

    In the early 1980's the Cyprus government, as part of its drive to create rural industries and away from the seaside tourist attractions, enabled small enterprises to apply for licenses to operate wineries of 50,000 to 300,000 bottles a year capacity, in the hill villages of the grape growing regions. The first of these was at Chrysorioyiatissa Monastery in the Paphos District, whose Monte Royal winery was established with German technology and equipment, making a range of wines, of which the white, Ayios Andronicus is among the top five Cyprus white wines.

    The late 1980's and early '90's saw a rush of small wineries starting up at Ayios Amvrosios, Kilani, Platres, Monagri, Arsos and other places in the Limassol district and at Kathikas and Vouni-Panayia near Paphos. The Ministry of Agriculture formed a special department in Limassol, with a fully equipped laboratory and a team of experienced specialists. There, wines were made from every grape variety and every region of Cyprus, experimental plantings undertaken all over the country and training courses arranged for would be winemakers. Most of the small wineries owe a great debt to the unit's director, Dr. Rhumbas.

    The result of this development has been the appearance on the local market of more than 100 red, white and rosé wines, some bad, some good and a few very good. The bad have largely vanished. What is remarkable is that in such a short time these intrepid young producers have started to make wines that are drinkable, enjoyable and getting better every year, with emerging and definite styles of their own.

    Whilst this exciting development has been taking place the Big Four have also been very active. They have developed new vineyards of their own and through purchase they have planted hundreds of thousands of new vines of famous international varieties and re-discovered old Cyprus types. They have built new or restored wineries in the hills, as well as made valiant attempts to shorten the time between picking and pressing grapes in Limassol.

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