Wines from Cyprus

I must admit I had a bit of a surprise yesterday, and it was a very pleasant one: I attended a tasting hosted by the Cyprus High Commission comprising of, unsurprisingly, wines from Cyprus. And the quality of the winemaking was quite high, the wines individual and full of character; there were even some exceptional ones. Yes, this was a pleasant surprise!

When I was alerted to tis tasting a few weeks ago by a mate and fellow wine professional I thought it worth going to out of curiosity, but in truth did not expect much. My last experience of Cypriot wines, lost in the mists of time, was of commercial, unexciting, indifferent offerings packaged in an old-fashioned way. They were not quite wines to be avoided, perhaps, but certainly not wines you would choose to seek out. Sole exception to this was Commandaria, the intensely sweet, rich wine which was distinctive and often enjoyable. So I wondered what was new these days that warranted a showcase tasting in London, at the Vintners Hall, no less.

The slogan for the event - or perhaps for Cyprus wines in general - appears to be '6000 Years of History  and the Journey continues...' - which is catchy in a way and appears to call upon the ancients to bless the new. Thankfully the wines on show largely did not need support from history, ancient gods or anything like that, though their journey is certainly not complete. Technically the wines were well made, clean and fresh, hiding no horrors; now they need to become more appealing and exhibit a bit more than just 'local character', if they are to capture a wider audience.

I found the white wines, mainly made from a local variety (xynisteri, possibly a clue in the name...), to be clean and fresh but also acidic, sour and lacking in fruit, largely graceless. In fairness, they were shown too cold so perhaps their finer aromas were lost, but... They would probably have been fine with seafood in a sun-filled beach taverna, served chilled. But they were all clean, well-made and largely well-presented. Yes they have a way to go (not to attain international style but to reach their full, local character potential) but they are going in the right direction. And the few that blended xynisteri with another variety seemed to gain in complexity and balance.

The roses were pleasant and inoffensive, with good colour that is the essence of these wines, and differing personalities. I believe that they, at least in an off-dry style, are quite the fashion in the local market at present, and there was a good representative of the style here. There was even a 'serious' rose, more like a light red in nose and palate, which will also have its fans.

The reds are the better wines at present. On some of the wines there was a distinct lack of fruit, which was impossible to evaluate not knowing much about the grape varieties or vintages - hint to the organisers : how about some general vintage information to aid us? - but the general standard was good. There were one or too exceptional wines, though the better ones were made with imported grape varieties. The winemaking was correct and serious at all levels, with some very luggable wines, little to complain about and even a couple of bottles I would have liked to take home with me.

The jewel in the Cyprus wine crown is still the sweet wine, with some exceptional wines showing that xynisteri can be very useful indeed. Commandaria is worth seeking out, even in its more commercial forms, with the smaller producers making superb, delicate, complex wines. A sweet rose muscat on show was also superb, and there was only one dud wine which was boring and tasted like sugar water.

My one area of serious concern was in the indicated prices for most of these wines, which appeared to be very high for wines still finding their way. I appreciate UK duty on wine is quite high, as are probably the transport costs from Cyprus, but if the wines are to stand a chance in the general market and not just aim at the expat Cypriots and Cypriot restaurants they are going to have to temper their ambitions a little bit.

All in all this was a positive experience, made better for being rather unexpected. I wish the Cypriot wine industry well and hope that the next time I taste their products they will be even better, more rounded, balanced and complete. Certainly they are going the right way and, so long as they don't get carried away by hot air and history and knuckle down to some serious work, there is no reason why they cannot gain a place in wine enthusiasts' hearts.