DESTINATIONS WINE | GREECE & CYPRUS Bottled poetry The wine scene in Cyprus is having a renaissance, reports Sarah Bridge here has been a revolution in wine In 10 years’ time, in Cyprus,” declares winemaker the wines in Cyprus Charilaos Athenodorou, while sloshing a zesty white morokanella in a will be as well known tglass and handing it to me to taste. “In 10 as the wines in Italy years’ time, the wines in Cyprus will be as well known as the wines in Italy.” Charilaos – whose winery, Ktima producers of wine in the world, going back Gerolemo, has a sign in the cellar that 5,500 years. What might surprise people reads ‘Wine is bottled poetry’ – is not is the quality of its wines, which are rapidly alone in his optimism. Cypriot wines have gaining in reputation – and awards – undergone a transformation over the beyond its shores. last couple of decades and the quality is A disastrous attempt to compete expected to improve even further over the with the likes of France and Italy in the next few years. mid-20th century saw native Cypriot vines That Cyprus, the third-largest island ripped up and replaced by better-known in the Mediterranean, has an impressive varietals such as cabernet sauvignon and wine heritage should not come as a chardonnay, leading to a dramatic decline surprise. The country is one of the oldest in the country’s output. But following ➣ travelweekly.co.uk 11 JULY 2019 51 DESTINATIONS WINE | GREECE & CYPRUS grapes left out in the sun, the result is a deliciously sweet – but not too sweet – gloopy glass of delight, all raisin and caramel with sherry overtones. For visitors who wish to BOOK IT dig deeper, the 15th-century Kolossi WINE ROUTES Castle near Limassol is the home of HF Holidays’ seven‑night commandaria wine and worth a visit. Cyprus Discovery Tour includes The Cyprus wine routes were Having tried several more glasses wine tasting at a monastery, a tour plotted to introduce visitors not in the sunshine, I couldn’t resist of wine cellars around Omodos, only to the 40‑plus wineries buying a couple of bottles to take plus visits to Paphos and the on the island but also to show back with me – so be warned, it’s Akamas Peninsula. Prices start off the culture of wine‑making best not to have just hand luggage at £899 based on a February 2, in Cyprus, including museums, on the journey home. 2020, departure, with four‑star restored wine presses and Cypriot wines are exported accommodation, excluding flights. villages rich in wine history. principally to Russia, Germany, hfholidays.co.uk There are seven routes, Switzerland, Poland and even marked by special road signs, all France – validation of its quality, if Olympic Holidays offers a week in the southwest of Cyprus. Each ever it were needed. But with just at five‑star hotel Anassa from route showcases a different side a few million bottles produced on £1,681 based on two sharing on of the island, from its mountains the island each year, if you want to a B&B basis, travelling from to its coastal roads. Visitors with CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: A vineyard tasting; Vouni experience the full variety of Cyprus Gatwick on September 3. Car a taste for sweet wine should Panayia winery; halloumi; Ktima Gerolemo winery wines, you have to actually go there. hire starts at £100 for a week. choose the commandaria route, PICTURES: Cyprus Tourism Organisation; Marcus Bassler; Shutterstock Thankfully, that’s not a hardship. TW olympicholidays.com centred around the island’s most famous tipple, which has been made here for centuries. a shift in policy, and with the help of EU investment and visitcyprus.com private finances, there are now more than 40 wineries Seven self-drive wine routes invite in Cyprus. Many are family-owned and some are run wine lovers to discover vineyards for by a younger generation who have studied oenology themselves, and many producers are overseas and returned to test their new-found know-how. WHAT TO EAT delighted to offer tastings and tours WINE ROUTES ❂❂Halloumi: Forget the To show off the growing number of vineyards scattered squeaky, plasticky supermarket across the island, seven self-drive wine routes invite version: in Cyprus, you’ll find wine lovers to discover these sites for themselves. Many I headed off on wine route number two – you can halloumi that is soft, doughy and producers are delighted to show off their wines and offer mix and match between routes, depending on where the utter heaven. Visitors to Mrs tastings and tours, and oenophiles used to trawling round mood takes you – to Vouni Panayia, a producer keen Sofia’s house in the tiny village more-established wine regions such as Tuscany or the on promoting indigenous grapes rather than foreign of Letymbou can watch halloumi Loire Valley will love the feeling of discovery as they find imports. One winery tour later and unfamiliar grape being made by hand and then a winery tucked away at the end of a dusty track. varietals such as maratheftiko, spourtiko and giannoudi taste it with freshly baked bread. A good place to begin is the ancient city of Paphos, were tripping off the tongue, while I was poured a glass where even before you set foot in a vineyard you can of the bestselling Alina wine from one of Cyprus’s most ❂❂Coffee: Mrs Sofia is also find traces of Cyprus’s wine history in the unmissable widely planted white grapes, xynisteri, which makes a a dab hand at Cypriot coffee Roman mosaics featuring Dionysus, the god of wine. great sauvignon blanc-style wine. made the traditional way – Most of Cyprus’s vineyards are spread across the heated on hot sand and with the southwest part of the island, with vines stretching over the CYPRIOT TASTES grounds poured into the cup green countryside and up steep terraces all the way into Fired up by a bracing shot of fortified wine Zivania, I to make a strong, sweet drink. the Troodos Mountains. headed for the village of Kathikas and the Vasilikon Just remember to stop drinking Indeed, if all the sampling gets too much, Troodos, winery, one of the first to be established in western before you reach the end. known as ‘the green heart of Cyprus’, has miles of Cyprus. Surrounded on all sides by vines, the winery walking and cycling trails, while the sandy beaches is built on three levels, encompassing a wine museum, ❂❂Sweets: A popular around Paphos are worthy of legend (literally – as the tasting room and wine laboratory, and hosts generous traditional Cypriot sweet is goddess Aphrodite was supposedly born here). tastings from across its range of reds, whites and rosés. soutzoukos, made with xynisteri Driving through the lush green landscape, with vines It was at my next stop, the aforementioned Ktima grape juice and aromatic plants stretching as far as the eye can see, is doubly rewarding Gerolemo winery just outside the beautiful village of and allowed to thicken into a if you’re en route to sample the wine (and even better if Omodos, where I finally sampled – among many others soft, rubbery treat. you hire a taxi for the day). – Cyprus’s famous commandaria sweet wine. Made from 52 11 JULY 2019 travelweekly.co.uk travelweekly.co.uk 11 JULY 2019 53.