‘Tis when men drink they thrive, Grow wealthy, speed their business, win their suits, Make themselves happy, benefit their friends, Go, fetch me out a stoup of wine, and let me moisten my wits, and utter something bright’ Aristophanes
	‘In Vino Veritas’ (in wine there is truth) Grapes are the world’s number one fruit crop, with over 20 million acres of land having been planted worldwide, with 10.000 different varieties of grapes, producing an annual crop of more than 25.000 million bottles of wine. According to the Wine and Spirit Association, wine is defined as ;The alcoholic beverage obtained from the juice of freshly gathered grapes, the fermentation of which has been carried through, in the district of it’s origin, and according to local tradition and practice’. This definition acknowledges the benefits wine brings; these are contained in the whole grape, in its sugar content, its juice, including water, its skin and the whole of its pulp, all these spring from the particular type of soil in which the grape is grown.
Wine has been credited with possessing so many organic chemical compounds, it is considered to be more complex than human blood serum. These benefits are due to the natural qualities in the grape which even after many thousands of years of cultivation, no-one has ever been able to explain fully, and still, there remains a bit of a mystery about wine, which even modern day scientists have so far been unable to penetrate. After the soil, the quality, and character, of a wine is influenced by the natural ferments, or yeast cells, which by the time they are picked, have formed on the outside of the grape skins, these are ready to get to work as soon as the grape is crushed and the sugar content is released.
This is the ABC of wine, making-the yeast or ferments, which are organic cells, these feed on the sugar contained in the grape, breaking it down into alcohol, and carbon dioxide, and they in turn are killed off by the alcohol they have produced. Sounds simple enough, but any one of our Cypriot wine makers will tell you that in fact the process is quite complicated, and yes, there are things that can go wrong. The yeast cells, for example, can work only within a fairly narrow temperature range; they die, or become useless, if the outside temperature is too cold, or if the heat generated by their own activity rises above a certain level. If the fermentation ceases before a proper balance has been achieved between the sugar and the alcohol, the wine will then be left with a highly vulnerable sugar content which, sooner or later will be open to a full attack by other airborne bacteria, such as the dreaded vinegar bacteria, and we all know from bitter experience what a sip of that wine will taste like. Then you also have the problems faced with storing, expensive oak casts or vats can sometimes be faulty, and spoil the entire contents, wine is also terribly sensitive to it’s surroundings, it is after all a living thing, and will take on the smell of a dirty cellar, or the taste of a rotten barrel stave. Our Cypriot winemakers all act as dedicated midwives, to their his new born wine, bringing to the birth;-experience, know how, patience, plus lots of passion, only then will there be born a fine healthy vintage.

Wine is for everyone’

Fact is, if you are fortunate enough to grow up in a wine producing country, then wine is as natural to drink, as beer is to an Englishman; wine in these countries will always be the automatic choice to accompany ones meals. There is a vivid picture in mind of being on a very posh wine tour of France, looking out from the place where the wine experts were testing the wine, there in a field, seated beneath the shelter of a tree, sat a French labourer, in one hand he held a large slice of French bread stuffed with sausage, in the other he clutched a bottle of wine. It would only have been be a complete fool who speculated on the label on that bottle, for of course there was no label. That man was drinking his own wine, he made it with vines that had produced grapes for his great great grandfather, he sat there content, ate his sausage sandwich, and drank his wine with relish, which only confirms that to be truly happy, a man must drink, also ensure his friends, family and children will all learn to drink wine naturally, without any snobbery or pretentious nonsense.

Trust in your Taste

One of the first rules for anyone wishing to learn about wine is to learn to trust his or her own palate, to start to believe in its ability to sense subtle changes, and detect harmonies or disharmonies. Next, always have the courage to change your mind, as ones experience grows, and your perception grows keener, wines that you once thought to be fine become less than acceptable or, may even become boring. Since there is no absolute standard of perfection, quality must always remain relative and your appreciation entirely a personal one.

Open to New Tastes

The very best wine is the one which, in the opinion of the majority is better than any other, a wine which needs no improvement. Wine must always be approached with an open mind, plus a keenness to accept it as it is. Listening to the opinion of others is good, but so is the ability to accept ones own palate.

Tickling the Palate

Ones palate if exposed regularly enough to new, and different tastes, will quickly pick up on what is a good wine, and what is not. The key factors which are common to all good wines are: - an absence of any unpleasant flavour, honesty of production, soundness of construction, purity of origin and positive ness of character. By this we mean the wine may be pleasant, or unpleasant, in varying degrees, mind you all wine has an unpleasant taste to people who dislike wine, so that unpleasant wine will always taste bitter, sour, acid, or taste of cork, wood or yeasts.

Pure and Simple

Honest production is credited to a winery that has not, overly interfered with the wine because Nature has failed in some way, then man has cleverly worked to find a remedy, or in some cases a way of disguising the defect, or worse when man decides to improve on nature’s methods thus falsifying the wines. Purity of origin is also important, the credentials of a good wine are as important as a top racehorse’s pedigree.

The Original Vineyard in the Sun

Cyprus can lay claim to being the oldest commercial wine producing country in the world. Old coins recently excavated from a site in Paphos date back to the 3rd century BC, these show a vine embossed on one side of the coin, a wine chalice from the 6th century BC has inscribed on the base ‘Be happy and drink well’ both of these ‘finds’ clearly illustrate the importance of wine in the daily life of Cyprus at that time. Cyprus also supplied large quantities of wine to the Pharaohs of Egypt, and they were also in great demand from the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Of course the wine then, and the wine produced now, differ tremendously, with ‘back then’ sweet wine, was the popular choice. The enormous changes that have taken place in Cyprus with regard to the professional cultivation and making of wine really started in the early 80’s.

Helping Hands

Under the auspices of the Cyprus Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, wine making in rural areas was actively encouraged; this was seen as a way to support those rural villages which were not benefiting from the booming seaside tourist trade. Small makers of wines were given licences to operate wineries of between 50.000 and 300.000 bottles a year. One of the first to go into high calibre production with German know how, and technology, was the Chrysoriatissa Monastery resulting in the Ayios Andronicos label, which is now rated as one of the five top white wines originating in Cyprus. A decade later there was a veritable explosion of small wineries setting up, all of whom were nursed along by the expertise on hand from the Government Oenology department. They in turn invested in the experimentation of different vines, gave assistance with planting, and importantly gave of their expertise when it came to the growing, and actual wine making. Many a winery has a lot to thank the Oenology department, as do the ordinary public along with the visitors who imbibe whilst here on holiday, for here we have a true success story, with the people, and the state working together to achieve a mutually beneficial and highly successful and internationally recognised wine business.