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).
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