A well-chosen wine can add a unique taste to even the most simple of dishes. Wine doesn’t just accompany the food, it complements and enhances.
In this review we’ll give you some ideas on which Cypriot white and rosé wines best complement traditional dishes.
White wines of Cyprus
Xinisteri
This is a light wine with a delicate floral and fruity aroma. Fresh Xinisteri is beautifully balanced with grilled red trout (barbouni), and the slight sharpness complements fried squid. Usually Xinisteri is served with a meze and village salad with feta cheese and grilled halloumi. This type of wine is perfectly suited to sheep cheeses.
Our choice: Zambartas, K & K Vasilikon, Vouni and Tsiakkas Wineries.
Semillon
A full bodied wine with medium acidity and a sophisticated aroma of white flowers and fruit (especially peaches and pineapple). This wine is perfect for light fish dishes and seafood, oysters, scallops and mussels, as well as veal and pork chops. Semillon goes perfectly with the Cypriot Kefalotyri, creamy brie or camembert.
Our choice: Zambartas Winery.
Xinisteri with Semillon
Xinisteri enhances the acidity and Semillon gives the wine a complexity and richness of flavour. This perfect combination is not only well suited to fish and seafood, but also for poultry such as grilled chicken in a light cream or herb sauce. This wine is also the ideal complement to sheep’s cheese and lettuce.
Our choice: Kiperounda Seven Hills (cooperative with SODAP winery) and Fikardos Wineries.
Spourtiko
A refreshing white wine from traditional local grapes, with a light lemon scent – perfect to quench your thirst on a hot summer’s day. Ideal with salads, stuffed vine leaves and vegetables in a lemon sauce, any fish, especially freshwater such as grilled trout.
Our choice: Kamanterna SODAP, Vouni and Fikardos Wineries.
Chardonnay
Full bodied wine with aromas of apple, citrus, peach, melon and tropical fruit, with hints of oak if kept in a barrel; Chardonnay goes well with seafood, especially lobsters and scallops, as well as poultry. It can also be combined with light dishes of beef or pork. Chardonnay is surprisingly suited to cheese, graviera kefalotyri, provolone and brie. Thanks to aging in oak barrels it’s the perfect complement to smoked fish, poultry, baked or grilled meat and fish. Ideal for hot summer days.
Our selection: Aes Ambelis, Vardalis, Vasa, Kyperounda and Makkas Wineries.
Sauvingnon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc has good acidity and a pronounced fruity and herbal aroma. For this reason, the wine is ideally suited to aromatic dishes. This Sauvignon Blanc does not store well for lengthy periods of time.
Great combined with seafood, especially crab and prawns in herb sauce (basil, oregano, mint, anise and rosemary). Sauvignon Blanc is perfect with garlic sauce, chili and curry sauce, but especially with wasabi. This wine is also served with blue cheese.
Muscat
The grapes give this fine wine medium acidity and a delicate aroma of nutmeg. This wine goes well with fragrant fish dishes, poultry and white meat.
Our choice: Krelan (Tihikos), Tsalapatis, Tsiakkas Wineries.
Rosé wines of Cyprus
Caberne Sauvignon, Grenach and Maratheftiko
The combination of three fine varieties with the dominance of Grenache, gives the wine fruity aromas of strawberry and pomegranate with notes of black pepper and spice. This is a dry wine with well-balanced acidity and the light tannins are well paired with duck salad, cold cuts, chicken in tomato sauce, Asian dishes with chicken, and is perfect with aubergine and mushroom appetizers.
Our choice: Aes Ambelis Wineries.
Maratheftiko
A full bodied and balanced wine with good acidity, light tannins, and notes of strawberry, pomegranate, tropical fruit and pepper. Well suited to salads with pasta, barbequed chicken or pork, poultry and white meat dishes with a rich sauce, and light cheeses.
Our selection is the Ezousa Winery.
Mataro / Mourvedre
Dry wine with notes of juicy raspberry, fresh strawberries, red plum, cherry and spice, low acidity and light tannins with a silky texture; this refreshing rosé wine is well suited to quench a summer thirst accompanied by pasta, cold dishes, chicken with a salad of fresh tomatoes and seafood (salmon, grilled shrimps).
Our choice: Vouni, Tsalapatis and Fikardos Wineries.
Grenache
Intensive fruity taste with notes of strawberries and ripe cherries, balanced by mild acidity, with its rich aftertaste allowing you to combine it with grilled chicken, grilled sardines, seafood, meats and Cyprus sausages.
Our choice: Domaine Nicolaides, Gaia Oinotechniki, Lambouris and Tsiakkas Wineries.
Cabernet Sauvignon
It is a well-balanced wine with notes of blackberries and strawberries, with a velvety texture and a long finish, perfectly suited to sweet and sour salads, meat pies, pasta and meats.
Our choice: Ktima KEO and Hadjiantonas Wineries.
Maratheftiko / Syrah / Shiraz
A wine with a fresh aroma of berries, ripe raspberries, cherries and spices, with a touch of acidity. It goes well with avocado and salad with fish, poultry, baked turkey and barbecued white meat.
Our choice: K & K Vasilikon and Tsangarides Wineries.
Conclusion
Probably no-one would argue that wine goes well with a variety of dishes, but not everyone can pick the right wine for the meal. There must be a balance between the food and the wine, and this is a hard art to master. But once you know the basic principles you’ll be able to enjoy the harmony of fine wine and your favourite food!
See also: How to combine the Cypriot wine with food: red and dessert wines