Untitled - ente nazionale per il turismo di cipro

Legend tells us that the first mortal to
learn the secret of making wine was King
Icarios, who learned the art from Dionysus,
the god of wine himself. The scene can be
seen today in a mosaic at the House of
Dionysus at Kato Pafos. The words
‘Be happy and drink well’ were found on an
inscription at the site and archaeological
evidence of viticulture and winemaking can
be seen in museums around the island.
Cyprus is one of the oldest
wine producing countries
in the world and CTO has
designed 6 wine routes to help
visitors discover the island’s
fascinating wine producing
regions. Ask for the special
CTO booklet.
The modern wine industry was born
in 1844 when the House of Hagipavlou
was founded to export wine in barrels
to neighbouring countries. In 1893, the
company built a winery at Zanatzia, with
proper presses and stone fermentation
tanks.
A British family by the name of Chaplin
built a winery at Pera Pedi, later to be
bought out by Keo, a company started
in 1927. Loel, was formed in 1943 and
developed business links with Eastern Bloc
countries while Sodap was created in 1947
as a vine-growers’ cooperative.
These companies, known as the ‘Big Four’,
produced all the wine sold commercially
for many years.
In the early 1980s, the government
encouraged small wineries to open and
there are now over thirty, many of them
in the vineyards themselves.
These smaller wineries are represented
by the Vacchus Regional Wineries’
Association. At the same time, the Big Four
opened – or re-opened – regional wineries
and created new marques to complement
the existing classics. Many of the wineries
welcome visitors for guided tours and
tastings, and there is also The Cyprus
Wine Museum at the village of Erimi.
After thousands of years of winemaking,
the future of the industry in Cyprus bodes
well and the consumer has a vast choice
of wines from the island of Aphrodite.
Commandaria is the oldest name for a
wine in the world. The name derives from
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