From the history of wine production in Cyprus

Cyprus is probably the oldest wine-producing region in Europe. Even the Phoenicians and Greeks founded the tradition of sweet and dessert wines. Excavations of the Italian archaeologist Dr. Maria Belgiorno show that the Cyprus wine over 5000 years back on. Legend has it that the first mortal king Ikarios, of Dionysus, the god of wine, the art of wine making has been taught.


Learn more from the Cyprus Wine Museum in Erimi Village in Limassol.In 1191) was the island during the Third Crusade by King Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199 conquered. He gave it as Loans to a crusader on and finally reached Cyprus in possession of the Teutonic Order of Knights Templar. By this time, the Cypriot wine at its height. The Order managed to come so-called (product of vineyards), after which one of the most famous wines Commandaria is named.

The conquest by the Turks in the late 16th Century and the resulting wine ban led to the temporary decline of the wine culture.

The wine was from the island by taking over England in 1878 was only partly corroborated. The oldest and still the largest to be counted Etko winery was founded in 1844 but already.

In the early 90s, the island lost with the collapse of the socialist bloc and the dwindling demand for so-called “Cyprus sherry” in the UK its two main markets and had to regroup. Special initiatives for quality wine took the plunge. Some of the highly motivated, new generation of winemakers studied viticulture in France or California. They recognized that the labor-intensive mountain areas could be successfully operated vineyard with high standing only. Modern wineries have been – just as in the Spanish Priorat – built in the mountains, near the vineyards. Cyprus was the right way from crisis to success.