Our final Cyprus has begun and is nearly over at the time of writing.
In contrast to last week, the sun has shone brightly everyday and we have not had to dodge torrential showers. As always, we kicked off with a superb dinner in the Polo restaurant at our utterly superb Alasia hotel. The food was imaginative and delicious and the service excellent. It has always marked a top class start to our tour.
Wednesday 21st October
Zambartas and Vlassides were the two wineries we visited on the first full day. Both are highly regarded family estates that have a reputation for top quality. Chelsea O’Brien at Zambartas hosted a detailed insight into the diversity of the indigenous Xynisteri grape as well as Mavro, Promara and Maratheftiko in various guises. We also met Haris the winemaker and Marcos Zambartas who gave us different perspectives.
At Vlassides, Maria Dimitriou hosted an excellent tasting showing the different philosophy of this estate and more great wines. An Agiorgitiko and a 2017 Merlot, Cab Sauv, Shiraz blend added to the mix of indigenous grapes. It was a marathon day of 19 wines!
Thursday 22nd October
The family estates of Gerolemou and Oenou Yi were the subjects of day 3. As ever Haris Athenodorou, the owner of Gerolemou, hosted an engaging and highly entertaining session as we viewed his vines, walked through his winery and sampled a great selection of wines. Highlights were his 2017 Maratheftiko and stunning Commandaria.
In complete contrast was the amazing opulence of the Oenou Yi winery. Perched above the village of Omodos, it is a stunning winery that was built in 2017 and is truly state of the art. In a beautiful tasting room we tasted an excellent set of indigenous grapes with Hippocrates who hosted the tasting with his usual aplomb.
From Oenou Yi we headed into Omodos for a gargantuan but utterly delicious mezze at the Katoi taverna.
Friday 23rd October
Paphos, or more specifically the hills at 900m inland from the town was out destination. The Vouni Paniya winery was established in 1987 and is one of the leading estates on the island. Owner Yiannis Kyriakides and his wife Maria hosted a fabulous tasting which gave us a great insight into the organic philosophy and showed us a different taste perspective as they age their wines before releasing and only use wild ferments. Everyone absolutely loved their wines!
From Vouni Paniya we head down the hill to the village of Letymbou and another family estate – Makarounas. Theodoros Makarounas and Elina hosted out tasting and light lunch but not before we were introduced to the donkey as well as the traditional method of making Sousoutkos – a traditional grape must and almond delicacy.
Dinner at Dionysus Mansion was another great occasion and we left with groaningly full stomachs again!
