Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Oinoπoieio (or oivonoiεío)

Μιλάτε Ελληνικά…? Όχι…?



Did I taste the ‘Evinos’ of Ouranos? OK…Oenology…you know it makes sense. Last week, although I was working (yes, I WAS!) I was pleasantly surprised to find that my contact has branched out into wines and although this is ‘just’ a cellar of his own with a retail outlet, I was surprised by the quality available…surprised because I just did not know!



“And I ask myself why? Why were those cheap wines on Cyprus so good? I thought maybe one reason was that perhaps Cypriots would not drink them if they were not good, and maybe they only produce enough for domestic consumption and a small amount of export”…not my words but those of Michael Spice; do you ever find that someone has written exactly what you want to say!  The point re ‘not knowing’ is summed up nicely by Antony Haggipavlu of the Olympus Oinoπoieio – that’s ‘winery’, in case you were wondering…;-)



From the site: - In an article in the British wine journal Harpers two years ago, he is quoted as saying, "we have tried spending money on marketing Cypriot wines overseas, and we have tried blending indigenous varieties with international ones. But it doesn't work, simply because if consumers don't know something, they don't buy it. The only solution is to use known varieties and to produce high-quality wines at the lowest cost possible."Cyprus wines were praised by Dionysus, the god of wine in Greek mythology and whom the Romans called Bacchus; also, worshipers of Aphrodite - the Goddess of Love - celebrated with 'Cyprus Nama', allegedly the oldest wine known in history; strangely enough one of the best sites I have found on the subject uses the name of the Roman God (Bacchus) and not the Greek - this in no way detracts from the site, which suggests, amongst other things, routes for ‘wine’ tours and succinct first-steps in a wine-tasting guide -‘not another wine buff’…I don't mean me! Accreditation for the picture also goes to their site (Cyprus wineries).

Ευχαριστώ

Αντίο


S.O.

8 comments:

Gavin Corder said...

That's because the Romans were better at marketing than the Greeks! Their main claim to fame is adopting the best customs and practices (including gods) and Romanizing them for export!

Span Ows said...

Hello Gavin!...bloody marketing!...;-)

No attempt at translations?...I am disappointed.

Gavin Corder said...

I am a bloody marketer not a translator!

flyingfinn said...

Hi Span,

Unsurprisingly, you'll find that I'm a lover of good wine. To be honest though, I've never tried Cypriot wine, but I will definately look out for it the next timne I go to the wine shop.

Span Ows said...

Finny, thanks but remember what they say in the links of my post though...they're not all good and the wineries have turned their good soils to producing mixesorjust 'wellknown' grape wines - cabernet sauv, shiraz etc. I had a good mavros (just means 'black') but when I spoke of it the Cypriots thought I was nuts...hmmm...I guess it's a personal thing!

Span Ows said...

Gavin!...and I thought you enjoyed it! (the translating that is!!!)

...well it's nothing complicated: the title is 2 ways of spelling 'winery'.

then I ask "can you speak Greek?" followed by..."No"?

Evinos. apart from being a river in Greece, means here "abundance of wine" or "good wine" and Ouranos is Uranus...NO!..not that one...meaning 'heaven'...well I think we'll leave that there!

At the end it is simply Thank you (pronounced Efhartis) and goodbye...as in adieu/ adios and sounds the same as well...all the Mediterranean languages have a lot in common.

and...Augutus take note..the word verification is...hmmttfn!!!

Kayfer Kettle said...

Just got a great gift off a mate for Christmas...Malcolm Gluck's Super Plonk 2006...it's blinding!

Span Ows said...

That's good Katey, as long as it's not vinegar then great...but I remember a while back that some Bulgarian wine had antifreeze in it...blinding, LITERALLY!!!!