Thanks to the kindness of a Cretan and a Cypriot friend, we were recently chauffeured in style up to the villages of Omodos and Vouni, in the Troodos mountains north of Lemesos. The weather was ever so slightly grim but, nothing daunted, we managed to have a fabulous time!
That is, just possibly, related to the fact that we began our day with a wine tour. We went north of Omodos to a relatively new but impressive winery on the grounds of one of its vineyards. (We’re not big believers in the Law of Attraction. But we did mention wanting to see more vineyards in 2023, so maybe it is a real thing…). We had a sensational guide and pourer, who told us a lot about the grapes native to the region. We had heard of Mavro and Xinisteri and Maratheftiko – indeed, we have been drinking them for weeks now. But we’re now also big fans of Yiannoudi (a red grape) and Promara (a white).
Also – in all our excitement about Zivania – we forgot to mention Commandaria, the oldest named wine in the world (Richard the Lionheart was a fan during his conquering visit-and-wedding in 1191). It’s a sweet wine, which they make from the first two above-mentioned grapes. It features in communion ceremonies in Greek Orthodox churches. But it is much better than the communion wine John grew up with, and more sophisticated than the phrase ‘dessert wine’ can possibly convey. We bought some, obviously, and also a couple of bottles of Yiannoudi and a rosé. (We didn’t want any hurt feelings.)
So, a brilliant start to the day! Then we went down to Omodos proper, and wandered around the monastery, which features a three-tiered gold-plated icon screen, relics from the true cross and Golgoltha, and the skull of St. Philip. To our surprise, these were not surrounded by high-tech security systems, or even human guards. In fact, there was nobody much around at all. We spent a bit more time in Omodos and then had a fabulous meat-filled meze lunch (a tiny fraction of which features in the picture).
And then we went to Vouni, an extraordinarily lively village, to chat over coffee and watch the sun set. We love the water, but our quick trip to the mountains has us wondering. Maybe we’ll need to settle somewhere like Cyprus, which has both in very convenient distance to each other. Huge thanks again to our pals, for the wonderful conversation, and for showing us a piece of Cyprus we wouldn’t otherwise have seen!
