Cyprus in the spotlight

It has been a while since my last visit to the majestic island of Cyprus and, as expected, the Cyprus Sommelier Association and its president, the very active George Kassianos, had put together a very extensive programme. It included visits to a number of wineries, some meetings, along with two Masterclasses for the Cyprus Somms. 

My first stop was at the KEO winery, which was established in 1928 and produces approximately 3 mn bottles. CEO Charalmabos Panagiotou and winemaker Dimitris Antoniou (pictured below) showed me the new projects of the winery.  In 1995, the late Akis Zambartas rediscovered a number of indigenous varieties.  Following this he invited the French ampelographer Pierre Galet to record and identify the varieties. The first single vineyard of Maratheftiko, Yiannoudi and Altesse originated at the KEO winery. A detailed tasting included the 2013 Heritage Maratheftiko, the 2014 Yiannoudi and the epic 1984 Commandaria. The brief tasting notes can be found at the end of the post.