Friday read: A new frontier between the vines of Cyprus

By Rebecca Pitcairn

Published: 20 December, 2024

As Cyprus celebrates 800 years of its iconic sweet wine, Commandaria, a younger generation of winemakers is proving the island’s indigenous grape varieties can produce some serious dry wines too. Rebecca Pitcairn dives in.

This year (2024) marks 800 years since Cyprus’s renowned sweet wine, Commandaria, won first prize in the International Wine Competition ‘La Bataille des Vins’, marking a significant milestone in the region’s ancient winemaking history.

Made from the indigenous white grape, Xynisteri, and red grape, Mavro, which have been harvested and left to dry in the sun for 10 days, the luscious amber dessert wine can only be produced in 14 permitted villages within the island’s Troodos Mountains.

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While this sticky wine has been exported and celebrated across Europe and the Middle East for centuries – Richard the Lionheart reputedly named it ‘the king of wines’ in the 1100s – the country’s native dry wines have garnered less than a glowing reputation.

In an effort to improve the quality of Cypriot wine, and make it more palatable to overseas markets, international varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc were planted during the 1970s, with varied results. However, the next generation of well-travelled vintners have shifted focus back to the indigenous varieties planted by their forefathers.

“Since entering the EU in 2004, the Cyprus wine industry has transitioned from volume to value with winemakers fully concentrated on indigenous varieties and terroir,” explains Alissa Tosoudis, head sommelier at Amathus Beach Hotel and former best sommelier of Cyprus.

Xynisteri – one of the two grapes used to make Commandaria – is the shining star and bright, easy-drinking versions of this table wine can be found on the majority of wine lists across the island. However, there is an increasing number of wineries pushing the boundaries of what this drought-resistant grape can achieve.

“Cyprus winemakers are now at the stage where they are trying to understand better the limits and the different expression Xynisteri can give,” adds Tosoudis.

From Xynisteri aged in acacia, to sparkling wine (including pét-nat), orange wine and even a blue Xynisteri (which, while somewhat gimmicky, has picked up national awards for its creativity), the expressions are varied and worlds apart from the ‘generic plonk’ produced in the 1990s.

The best versions come from the higher altitude vineyards inland. At Vlassides Winery, third generation winemaker Sofoklis Vlassides uses old, goblet-trained vines of Xinisteri situated at around 900m in the Afamis mountain area to produce Αlátes – a well-structured example with five to seven years aging potential.

“Αlátes, in Cypriot, means ‘wings’,” he says. “It is our way of giving wings to the vision of introducing a fine representative Cypriot white wine to the world at large.”

Orestis Tsiakkas, second generation oenologist at the Tsiakkas Winery, in Pelendri, whose vines sit between 900m and 1,400m, makes an orange wine using sundried Xynisteri skins destined for Commandaria, as well as a white made from Xynisteri grown in the Pitsilia PDO and aged in Commandaria barrels for nine months.

“This creates a wine that has a completely different inception,” he says. “The aromatic profile is more reminiscent to a semi-dry wine, however the palate is dry.”

The Tsiakkas family also works with the native red grape varieties, Yianoudi, Maratheftiko and Mavro, and have created a blend from these three, which has been fermented in egg-shaped oak barrels, as well as Beaujolais-style wine made solely from Mavro.

“We are the first in Cyprus to introduce the semi-carbonic technique on this variety and the first to produce a very light body red wine to be served chilled,” explains Tsiakkas, adding that they later reintroduce the skins back into the wine to give more structure.

Further bridging the gap between innovation and tradition, Tsiakkas Winery is even pushing the boundaries of Commandaria, producing an unfortified style made with 100% Xynisteri – a concept introduced by Orestis’s father and winery co-founder, Costas.

Tsiakkas continues: “The result is a Commandaria that retains more acidity and fruit compared to the traditional blend, making a sweet wine that is refreshing and more consumer friendly.”

Whether purists agree, we’ll have to wait and see.

Top photo credit: Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Tourism

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