Viticulture in Cyprus
The viticulture in Cyprus has already thousands of years old, uninterrupted tradition. In addition to tourism, viticulture is the emerging, modern branch of the economy with a still limited range of different types of wine. Before the Great Depression, the lower end of the market was served with huge quantities of cheap wine for the Eastern Bloc and grape concentrate for Great Britain . Since then, there has been a reorientation towards high-quality wines and especially the autochthonous specialties. An inexpensive sherry imitation based on the Spanish model is still being produced, but due to the strict EU regulations, it may only be marketed domestically under the name Cyprus sherry . Large quantities of soft, dry table wines are still produced, as well as the lush Commandaria liqueur wine from the growing area of the same name. Overall, the cultivation area in Cyprus has decreased significantly from 50,000 to 15,000 hectares since 1990 .
Cyprus has never been affected by the phylloxera plague and has consistently cultivated its own grape varieties. Twelve international grape varieties have only been allowed to be grown and sold since 1990. It is to be expected that these will to a certain extent displace traditional plants as well as complement them in cuvées.
Geographical conditions
Viticulture takes place almost exclusively in the southern part of the island on the southern slopes of the mighty Troodos Mountains at heights between 240 and 1500 meters. Typical ground is limestone and partly volcanic rock. Cyprus is divided into the four geographically protected wine regions of Lemesos, Paphos, Larnaca and Lefkosia. Another, smaller subdivision is that of the protected designation of origin , which is only used for around 2% of the wines: Commandaria , Laona-Akamas, Pitsilia, Vouni-Panayias / Ambelitis and the wine villages of the Lemesos district , which belong to the Limassol region .
history
The history of viticulture in Cyprus can be roughly divided into four phases. As in other countries bordering the Mediterranean, wine growing and trading took place in ancient times , as evidenced by the shipwreck of the "Kyrenia" type found off Cyprus in 1999. It had 2,500 amphorae of wine loaded. It is not certain whether it was intended for the Greek or the Egyptian market. A little earlier, in the village of Pyrgos in today's Limassol district, an ancient production facility for flavorings, an oil and wine mill and a copper smelter were found, as well as wine containers and wine seeds.
The oldest detectable traces of viticulture are almost six thousand years old. They are deposits of tartaric acid in wine amphoras that have been kept in the Cyprus Museum since the early 1930s . Accordingly, Cyprus is even considered the oldest Mediterranean wine-growing region.
The second important epoch is the period between the Middle Ages and 1878, in which France in particular had a great influence on viticulture. This was also the time when the Commandaria wines became stronger, immortalized in French by the Norman poet Henry d'Andeli with his poem La Bataille des vins in 1224 and crowned the winner among dozens of wines. During the occupation of the island as a province of the Ottoman Empire , the wine culture declined drastically. Wine was forbidden in Islam and was heavily taxed for people of different faiths. The wine quality deteriorated accordingly.
The third phase began with the liberation by the English in 1878 and lasted until the island was divided in 1974. During this time, viticulture was industrialized. The large, still active production companies were founded during this time and soon began to fight for market shares in Central and Northern Europe. The phylloxera plague that affected these regions favored this development. In terms of quality, however, the Cypriot wines could not keep up for long after the recovery, especially of the French wine market. Exports to Great Britain and France fell again.
The development of sherry production revived exports since the mid-1930s. In the mid-1960s, 13.6 million liters of Cypriot wine were consumed in Great Britain, mainly fortified sweet wine. Mass production peaked in 1968 in an attempt to pipeline wine like crude oil onto ships for export.
In the fourth phase, which continues to this day, the professionalization with which the country is approaching the standards of the EU in its legislation becomes clear . In addition to the elimination of the term Cyprus sherry owing to its accession to the EU , the current generation of winemakers is returning to traditional values and methods: The idea known as a conservative grape policy is the consistent tillering with the most important autochthonous grape varieties Mavro , Maratheftiko , Lefkada , Yiannoudi , Xynisteri , Spourtiko and Muscat d'Alexandrie . The two autochthonous varieties Promara and Ophthalmo are less valued . While Maratheftiko produces a red wine with excellent potential, but is difficult to ripen because of the difficulties in fertilization and the associated trickling, it is exactly the opposite with the white Ophthalmo grape.
The introduction of internationally renowned grape varieties is generally rejected, but since 1990 - after 30 years of strictly controlled trials - a dozen varieties have managed to get approval in certain growing areas. The most important are: Viognier , Grenache , Carignan , Syrah , Merlot , Mourvèdre , Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon .
Winemaking
The four largest wine producers serve 60% of the market. The largest producer is SODAP , a cooperative founded in 1947 that is supplied by around 10,000 families in 144 villages. ETKO, the oldest winery, founded in 1844, is also known under the name Olympus Wineries . She diversified in the late 1990s and also owns vineyards in Greece. As a regional specialty, the Zivania pomace is produced in the headquarters in Omodhos . The other two big houses are KEO and LOEL. In addition, a large number of family and private wineries (Aes Ambelis, Ezousa, Makkas, Tsiakkas, Vasilikon, Vlassides, Vouni Panayia, Zambartas and others) have established their reputation the more and more internationally known.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c The Great Johnson , 19th ed., P. 470
- ↑ Brett A. Phaneuf, Thomas K. Dettweiler, and Thomas Bethge: Special Report: Deepest Wreck , in: Archeology, Volume 54 Number 2, March / April 2001 (Engl.)
- ↑ I profumi di Afrodite e il segreto dell'olio , Ufficio Stampa CNR , March 13, 2007 (ital.)
- ↑ Cyprus first to make wine ( Memento from August 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), Decanter , May 16, 2005 (web archive)
- ^ Arthur Reed: Pipeline Wine ( Memento September 6, 2003 on the Internet Archive ), June 19, 1968. The Times Digital Archive. Page V, edition 57281