When in the late summer of your life you find your way home and see the unkept vineyard, you do not burn it. You remember those who planted the vines and take your knife to purge the weeds of their imperfection. You lop off the fruitless branches and nourish the bearing ones. You love. And then, one day, you can make them tell the stories that otherwise would be left untold.
South-west from Troodos meanders the Diarizos River, once called the “one hundred mouth flows”, because it formed so many gullies. Lush from its continuous irrigation and with temperateness both in summer and winter, the Diarizos valley is strewn with wine villages and ubiquitous vineyards. Its terroir is a complex collection of lava-formed, sedimentary and morphed rocks, created over hundreds of millions of years.
This is the fourth most produced grape variety in France and has long been treated with a little contempt. It is rarely used to produce a varietal wine. The grape was introduced to Cyprus—confusingly renamed as Oeillade—because of its drought resistance. Astonishingly, most of our vines survived for almost 15 years without any care. Today, Cinsault represents a negligible part of Cypriot viticulture. All the more reason to cherish this old vineyard.
Adding a new profession to one’s curriculum vitae is a challenge at any stage in life. But a shared love of wine turned a visual artist and a corporate lawyer into passionate vignerons. While this took an enormous effort of learning and labour, taking the next step into winemaking was even less evident.
Fortunately, they found a friendly and capable oenologist in the next village. Marinos Ioannou of Nelion Winery agreed to do a small vinification for them. The proximity of vineyard and winery makes the wine a lot more carbon-friendly than cheap imported wines from the supermarket.
Nelion Winery is a family-run boutique winery located just a few minutes up the road from the studio. Both viniculture and winemaking are kept in the family and assure they offer a culture of high-quality standards, using both modern equipment and traditional practices.
The winery has a small production which allows attention to detail. It currently offers eight different labels, ranging from the indigenous xynisteri dry white to a sweet black muscat.