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Commandaria and its glass
I spoke mostly about Commandaria and its potentials for a brilliant international course. My opinion that the only wine product of the island that can succeed in the international wine market is the famous and historical Commandaria is well known. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat my trust in the product or confirm that many other wine writers share my views on Commandaria.
Neither is it necessary to argue against the desertion of the vinicultural zone of the dying Commandaria. The zone that until now constitutes the only valid appellation of origin of the island, includes 14 Commandaria villages, which they have the exclusive privilege for the production of the renowned wine. In these villages, as throughout Cyprus, there is the belief that the professional occupation with vines is old fashioned and unprofitable, as the locals cannot realize the size of the wine treasure that slowly dies in front of them. The vines that are not abandoned are left to slowly dry up in the stony soil of Commandaria villages. At the same time, the scrupulous and important work of vinification is undertaken by people and wine industries that have no relation with the subject. The outcome of this evident amateurism is more than obvious in our glass, which rarely receives an excellent Commandaria.
With this in mind, I expressed my reservations to Mr Yiannakis Georgiades, Director of the Wine Products Council, as to whether this is the best time to find a glass for Commandaria. Explaining my concerns, I mentioned to Mr Georgiades that the biggest and most important problems of this wine exist at the base of the productive pyramid, in the vine and not at the top, its consumption in the ideal glass. I considered, therefore, and continue to consider that the Wine Products Council should put its efforts in the upgrading of the vineyard and the encouragement of investments in the region rather than in the selection of an ideal glass for Commandaria.
On the same ground, I mentioned to my co-speaker my reservation that the currently available Commandaria for sale is just a wine that exploits only 30-40% of its true potentials. As a result, the selection of a glass at this phase will be based on a wine of a much lower quality than the quality it could reach in the future on the presumption that there will be the conditions that would favor the drastic upgrading of the best Cypriot wines.
Nonetheless, they had already arranged the workshop and remained only its completion. Some days earlier, Mr Georg Riedel himself came to our island to preside over the selection of the Commandaria glass. With the help of the Council and his local representative (Cellar Protasis), they set up a very interesting procedure in a special arranged room of the Hawaii Hotel in which they participated various wine tasters from Cyprus and abroad. In front of each one of us, we had 14 different wine glasses that the staff of the House in Austria had pre-selected out of the Riedel selection. Mr Riedel asked us to taste the first Commandaria that was served in the 14 glasses, excluding at first the four worst ones. Afterwards, they served a different Commandaria, which helped us to exclude another four wine glasses from the procedure. Among them, there was the one that was finally selected as the best. Mr Riedel had suggested the specific glass to remain as he considered it very good for Commandaria. In the next round, we had a different Commandaria excluding another set of four glasses. We were left only with three glasses from which we had to choose the best one in the last round. The glass that was excluded in the second round, was declared the most suitable to serve Commandaria in.
Despite the interest of the whole event, I must admit that leaving the specific workshop, I was not totally convinced that we had managed to choose the ideal glass for Commandaria. Moreover, I had some reservations as to the marketability of the chosen glass as its whole look does not refer to the consumption of sweet wine.
Mr Georg Riedel was very generous offering free a thousand Commandaria glasses. It would not be a bad idea if the Wine Products Council offered these glasses to the co-operative wineries of Commandaria explaining at the same time their usage in order not to take them for vases! You see, my fellow readers, all the times I happened to visit the area, I had the ‘rare honour’ to try this sweet wine in plastic cups, from those we find in coffee machines. In one occasion, though, I had the ‘pleasure’ of drinking this sweet wine in a traditional water glass the people of the winery brought me!
12/03/2006
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