Old wine in a new glass
Complete with a special glass, Commanderia is now in a position to be marketed worldwide

In the past we have seen several famous names of the wine world visiting the island, sharing their experiences with the oenophiles of Cyprus. In late February it was the turn of Georg Riedel, whose glasses are world famous. In particular, Riedel carved out a niche by producing dozens of glasses designed for specific wine types (including Champagne, red and white Burgundy, young and mature Bordeaux, Syrah, Tempranillo, Riesling, Sauternes, even Beaujolais Nouveau and Ros?).

There is an impact of the glass shape on the perception of wine. What Riedel does is look for the maximum expression. And this is achieved by designing a specific glass for a given type of wine to get the most enjoyment form drinking it. He explained his philosophy by mapping the four key neighborhoods, or zones, on the tongue. “Sweetness we taste at the tip of the tongue, salt is detected at the areas close to the tip, sourness we taste predominantly at the edges, bitterness at the very base of the tongue”. He designed glasses that toned down a sour note in one wine type or a bitter note in another, or he tried to raise our ability to pick up the sweet fruit in yet another wine.

The design wasn’t really that hard to figure out once he discovered that with taste, the first impression sets the tone. So, for a wine that tends to be sour, he designed a glass that guides the wine away form the edges of the tongue (the sour zones). Want to improve the sweetness factor? Direct the shape of the glass so the wine flows to the tip of the tongue (the sweet zone).

In February, the Wine Products Association, along with Cava Protasis, invited Riedel to visit Cyprus and choose a Commandaria glass. The workshop took place at the Hawaii Grand Hotel. Other than Georg Riedel and his assistants, there were 22 participants, including dignitaries from Greece and the UK.

In front of us were 14 glasses of different shapes and sizes. All Riedel. There were four rounds of evaluation. The selection method was simple. For the first two rounds, four glasses were eliminated and three on the other two. The glass which received the highest number of points from the panel was eliminated from the list. The 25 glasses were selected by Riedel himself. One way or another they might have suited Commandaria.

Riedel has now the wine glass that elevates Commandaria. Although this was not a unanimous decision, most of the panel seemed to be happy with the choice. From a marketing point of view, I believe this wine glass will be very difficult to be perceived as a sweet wine glass. The historical Commandaria has now its own special glass. The road to explore the foreign markets is now paved. Riedel marketing is yet another tool that producers of this precious wine can use for more effective and professional promotion. Moreover, it is about time that the Wine Products Association and Yiannakis Georgiades, the Director of the Association, work to stop the extinction and bad practice exercised on the vineyards in the 14 villages that constitute the Commandaria appellation zone. After all this is a wine that every Cypriot should be proud of.

Wine of the week

1998 Ayia Mavri Esperinos, Koilani, Limassol Region, Alcohol Volume 12%
Formerly known as Koilani Winery, owned by Ioannis and Yiannoula Ioannidou. Famous for its Muscat of Alexandria grape wines, this Cabernet Sauvignon varietal wine has a deep red colour with orange hints on the rim, earthy aromas and forest fruit indicating the age of the wine. Age shows on the palate too, dense, still tannic, with a touch of rustic, good spicy depth, still earthy with medium aftertaste. Served at 18?C with roast red meat, especially with a heavy mushroom sauce or game.