{"id":6834,"date":"2016-08-29T14:55:21","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/?p=6834"},"modified":"2024-02-22T11:16:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T11:16:38","slug":"wine-tasting-vouni-panayia-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wine-tasting-vouni-panayia-winery\/","title":{"rendered":"Wine Tasting at Vouni Panayia Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When life throws an unexpected bank holiday into your schedule, what do you do?
Book a wine tasting<\/span> of course!<\/p>\n\n\n

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I’ve seen a fair share of Cyprus wineries<\/a> from the smallest ones to the biggest and this one will go to my top three list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vouni Panayia winery is situated on top of a hill in the village<\/span> of Panayia<\/span>, overlooking rolling hills with mostly dried-out vegetation, lush patches covered with trees and vineyards, and Kannaviou Reservoir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you approach the village<\/span>, you will be spoiled with a stunning drive through one of the most beautiful areas in Paphos<\/a>, admiring the peaks of the Troodos Mountains<\/a>, goats stranded on steep hills and tiny villages along the road.
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We arrived on 15 August which is a bank holiday in Cyprus<\/a><\/span> and the winery<\/span> was almost fully booked for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We were quickly greeted by Petros, the owner’s son, who arranged a private tour of the winery<\/span> along with wine tasting<\/span>, even though we didn’t book in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We started with a complimentary welcome glass of wine and some seasonal fruits, while admiring the sweeping views of the valley under our feet.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The winery<\/span> tour started in the production facilities, this is where the grapes travel straight from the vineyards, crushed and stored in these enormous containers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were just being filled up and you could smell the sweet grape juices traveling around the whole room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In there we had a strong introduction to the history of winemaking, the ancient legends surrounding it and how wine productions started in Cyprus<\/span>. We walked up to the top floor which is also part of the restaurant<\/span> and where we later enjoyed our lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petros showed us where the vineyards are and told us why a soil-like their produces wines full of flavor, even with very limited rainfall during the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret is the limestone concentration in the soil, which preserves moisture really well and ensures that the grapes are well-nourished even though it might not rain for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Those bright green patches in the picture below is where the wine comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We continued our journey through the well-stocked wine cellars, making mental notes of what to include in my future house and dream wine cellar. I can guarantee it won’t be as big as this one.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Along the way, we stopped to hear how the wine is harvested<\/span> and how important it is to know how to prune the vines properly. All is done by hand, including picking the grapes which are virtually inaccessible for any machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the old days, poor donkeys had to carry the wine grapes to the winery<\/span> for processing, these days it’s done with plastic crates that are transported on a big truck. That still means they have to be picked<\/span> by hand and collected into the crates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After the winery<\/span> tour was over, the most anticipated part of our trip was here – wine tasting<\/span>. Unlike in some other wineries<\/span>, you don’t have to pay anything for wine tasting<\/span> and you can taste<\/span> any of the wines from their vineyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One particular favorite which I have to point out right away was this gold-colored Zivania<\/span>. Zivania<\/span> is also made from grapes and normally has white color and zero flavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one was aged thirteen years in an oak barrel and it tastes and smells like a good whiskey. You won’t see many of these in the shops, so if you get a chance grab one from here, you won’t regret it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another wine-related product is the wine honey, very thick, dark with sirup like consistency, it looks nothing like honey (and the bottle doesn’t even have a label). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is veeeery sweet and absolutely delicious in dressing for salads, so we took one with us home to test. I can imagine it would be a great addition to marinades for summer BBQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then there are the wines. We’ve bought some of these from our local shops, but found a new favorite – the Uncle John wine (in greek) – Barba Yiannis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The white ones are also very nice and you will get a chance to taste some very exotic grapes like spourtiko, promara and the newest addition to the Cypriot wine<\/span> making – yiannoudi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This beautiful bottle got my attention as we were scanning the wines to taste and when we found out it’s a limited edition of the Barba Yiannis (only 900 ever made), we had to take one with us. I will be opened in our new house when we move at the end of September, to mark the start of a new exciting era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It features a portrait of the founder of the winery<\/span> and Petro’s grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n

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There are all together 8 wines you can taste, along with Zivania and other grape products (sorry for the blurry photo!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Petros was very accommodating guide with patience to explain all the tiny details I was interested in and answering all my silly questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staff in the restaurant<\/span> and winery<\/span> is extremely friendly and that alone would be enough to make us come back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pair that with delicious wines and stunning views and this place just made it to our tourist hot list – a well-guarded list of places we take our family and relatives when they come to stay with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t find better words to sum up this experience, so I borrowed a quote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LOVE it? PIN it for Later!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Explore More in Cyprus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus Travel: Beautiful Places To Discover On Your Trip [2024]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus Photography Ideas: Tips from a Local Expert<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus Honeymoon: The Complete Honeymoon Guide [2024]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus Travel Photography: Capture the Beauty of Cyprus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus Aesthetic: Uncover the Beauty of the Island of Aphrodite<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monastery of Holly Cross in Omodos, Cyprus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When life throws an unexpected bank holiday into your schedule, what do you do?Book a wine tasting of course! I’ve … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[577,991],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6834"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36706,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions\/36706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cyprusescape.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}