Cyprus wine

WE TAKE in a delivery of wine today, to stock up on our sadly depleted cellar – actually, the garage.

They are quite a hotch potch of different styles and grape varieties, from the fruity excitement of the New World to the sophistication of the Rhône Valley.

But the one thing we don’t have is anything from Cyprus – which seems a rather odd omission when you think how much is coming in from Eastern Europe these days.

Yet for centuries, Cyprus wines were famous; while as for their sherry - my parents always had a Christmas bottle of Emva Cream on the sideboard…

During our holiday there, My Good Lady and I visited the Cyprus Museum of Wine, just outside Limossol, to learn (and to sample) something of the island’s wines.

The main red grape, we discovered, is Mavro, producing a surprisingly light, softly tannic and fruity red, while the white grape, Xinisetri, makes for a rather lovely and refreshing white, quite a change from the ubiquitous Chardonnays and Sauvignon blancs that you find almost everywhere.

I must say we developed a bit of a taste for Xinisteri.

The third wine we tasted was the sweet red, Commandaria – a bottle of which we brought back from the duty free shop at Paphos airport. It makes for a delightful aperitif or as an after-dinner tot to go with the coffee.

Cyprus wines seem to have fallen into disfavour in recent years and I think this is rather a pity – they really are something a little different.