Q&A > Wine Tasting FAQ: Cyprus Sweet Wines

Wine Tasting FAQ: Cyprus Sweet Wines

October 28, 2022

My wife only drinks sweets!! Red wine in the evening for the benefit. (I know Commandario, Muscat sweet, Nama). Can you name wines that can be bought in the shops??

Question:

My wife only drinks sweet wines!! Red wine in the evening for the benefit. (I know Commandario, Muscat sweet, Nama). Can you name wines that can be bought in the shops??

Answer:

I’m not 100% updated on which wines are available in the market and where but I know where they are made and I’m more than happy to get the wines delivered to you anywhere in the world or even better take you to the wineries! I will prepare an extensive list and share it on this post. Please keep an eye on this page for updates.

Furthermore let me help you a little bit with the names you mentioned:

Commandaria: Natural Sweet Wine made from Grapes Dehydrated under the Sun The sweet treasure of Cyprus. The King of Wines and Wine for Kings. The world’s oldest Appellation (Designated name of Origin) Wine, is still in production. I can talk about Commandaria for days. What you need to know is that the name comes from the word Commandarie. Because the grapes are only picked from the administrative region i.e. the headquarters, of the order of the knights Hospice, called ‘Le Gran Commandarie de Chypre’. The production of this wine is strictly regulated. If it carries the name of Commandaria DOP it’s good enough. The profile of the wine varies for each producer and depends on a number of factors. You need to try a few and find which is your preferred style.

Buying tip: Please when you purchase Commandaria avoid fancy bottles and packaging and better stay away from the low price range. Here is a list of Commandaria wines that I can deliver to you if you want.

Decoding Commandaria Wines

Wine tasting Stories

at Sherlock's Home, Limassol

Duration

1 hrs 15'

Availability

Tue to Thu

Wine

Commandaria

Muscat Sweet: Muscat is a grape variety grown naturally in a few places around the Mediterranean. In Cyprus it’s also called Malaga and in some cases it’s considered to be an indigenous grape. Very often blended with Xinisteri to add aromas to dry white wines. Kind of an old-school practice which is still used by some producers.

There are two clones used to make wines here. Muscat of Alexandria which has a very typical distinctive character and makes very aromatic wines. Anything from white dry to sticky sweet wines. In my opinion Dr Ioannides of Ayia Mavri Winery has the most experience on this grape variety and the best wines.

The Muscat of Hamburg or Black Muscat is also used but more rarely. Nelion Winery in the valley of Diarizos river makes a very elegant dessert wine called Black. I would also recommend their semi-dry rose wine for earlier, during the day consumption, by the pool or at lunch.

Tasting Nelion Wines

Wine Tasting

at Nelion Winery, Pretori

Duration

1 hour

Availability

Daily

Wine

Nelion Winery

Nama: This is a word that doesn’t have any official substance, more of a marketing term nowadays. Some people believe that this was the name used for wines of Cyprus in the ancient times. What I do know is that until the industrial revolution wine trade was done in a different way than nowadays and wines were named after their geographical origin e.g Wine of Cyprus, or the port they were shipped from e.g Wine from Amathus (ancient town near Limassol). Nowadays it’s used on labels of cheap sweet red wines produced both in Cyprus and Greece, used either in church ceremonies or in the tourist souvenir market as a low budget alternative to Commandaria. I’m not aware of any quality products in this category.