Wine producers release results of island-wide survey

CYPRIOT wines have all the potential to be leading contender but there is still room for improvement and better marketing, according to officials of the association of local wineries of Cyprus (VACHOS).

Despite being world famous for the dessert wine Commandaria, the island needs to grab the opportunity and bring their other wines into the international spotlight with better branding and quality and taste improvement still needed.

VACHOS and winery officials held a news conference yesterday announcing various strategic plans and missions to promote Cypriot wine adding that the opportunity should not be missed because the island has all the potential to be a top contender – up there with New World countries like Australia, Chile and South Africa.

“We have all the advantages mainly because of great tradition of winemaking and our excellent climate”, said Nicos Nicolaides of Nicolaides Bros Winery in Limassol.

“But improvement is needed especially in getting the message across abroad.”

Brand visioning is the obvious way to get the promotion needed, said the VACHOS officials.

The move to push Cypriot wineries onto the international scene resulted from a recent survey on what Cypriots think of local wine. Wine experts from Cyprus, Greece and abroad were also questioned.

According to the officials, the results were enlightening but in some cases also alarming.

The findings found our own experts believe the quality of wine on the island is very good because of the climate, which gives our wine a full-bodied taste and a high volume of alcohol.

But their estimations were not shared by their Greek counterparts who described Cypriot wine as “mediocre”, adding that Cypriot wine is at the same stage Greek wine was at some years ago.

But Cypriots are still local wine lovers, according to the research results, which showed that almost all Cypriots pick local wines over imported wines from countries such as Chile and South Africa.

Around 82.1 per cent of those surveyed aged between 20 and 30 say they prefer local wine with 97.6 per cent of people aged 60 and above also preferring local wine.

The survey also showed the Cypriots drink wine depending on the occasion with bottles of red and white wine being preferred at gatherings. Most Cypriots prefer to drink wine at family gatherings, with friends or on public holidays such as Christmas and Easter.

Just two per cent of Cypriots said they drink wine at clubs and bars while 8.2 per cent say they drink wine when they are by themselves at home.

Cypriots also purchase wine depending on the taste (26.1 per cent), then aroma (19.8 per cent) and then colour. Only 12.8 per cent of Cypriots bought wine depending on the price and 0.6 per cent of Cypriots said they bought wine because of the advertising of the product.

“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed and we need to take advantage of the island’s potential to become a well-known wine producing nation. However, we mustn’t set our sights too high at this early stage,” said one winery official.

“We must first seek to improve with locals, Greeks, who are friends of Cyprus wine makers and, of course, the tourists who visit our island. It is vital that we don’t miss this opportunity as what happened with the Cyprus potato.”

Organisers at the conference also paid a special tribute to Zivania producers, saying that the quality has improved in recent years and suggesting that wine should take the same route.