13th Cyprus Wine Competition 2022
Four golds, and a special distinction for the most difficult grape we grow.
What the competition is
The Cyprus Wine Competition is the island’s national judging. It is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, and the thirteenth edition was judged over two days, on 9 and 10 May 2022.
What we came away with
Four gold medals, and a special distinction for our Maratheftiko.
Eight special distinctions were awarded in the whole competition. The Maratheftiko took one of them.
Why that one matters to us
Of everything in our cellar, Maratheftiko is the grape that gives the least ground. Its flowers are functionally female, so it cannot pollinate itself and has to be planted among a variety that flowers at the same time. Its bunches ripen unevenly, with berries of several sizes on the same stem. It accounts for roughly one per cent of the vineyard area of Cyprus, and there is a reason for that.
A distinction for a Maratheftiko is not really a distinction for a bottle. It is a distinction for the two seasons of patience that stand behind it.
What we take from it
A medal is one wine, on one day, in front of people who taste for a living. It is worth having and it is worth keeping in proportion. The vines do not know about it, and next September they will ask exactly the same things of us as they did last year.
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