Domaine Vlassides

In this case the story begins differently. It does not follow the beaten track of "I loved wine and decided to build a winery." The winery of Sophocles Vlassides was not founded solely on the producer’s love and passion for wine – this is taken for granted, and is obvious, anyway – but there was something else too, something more sound and solid, namely his studies in Oenology at one of the most famous universities of its kind in the whole world, the well-known Davis in the USA, where Sophocles spent two years and received a degree in Oenology after first completing a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College, London.

Sophocles Vlassides’s participation in the winemaking activities of his country constitutes an asset for the island for a number of reasons. For one, Mr Vlassides is one of the few qualified oenologists in Cyprus who dared to set up their own wineries. Also, his involvement in Cypriot winemaking gave a fresh impetus to the island’s till recently numb and stagnated winemaking sector, along with a new understanding of things, and created new, till then unknown, trends such as the use of oak casks for ageing red wines – a practice that he was the first to implement among the small regional wineries. He has clear ideas about winemaking, his orientation is obviously towards red wines, and his winery is wellknown for its full-bodied reds – especially the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon – which are made from grapes of high alcohol potential, with long extractions, frequent racking, meticulous maturing in 300-litre casks from French oak and a few months’ ageing in the bottle, before they are circulated on the market.

The Vlassides winery has initiated a new style of wine that has similarities to those of the New World, where emphasis is laid on intensity of colour, compact intense aromas and a full, well-structured tannic taste with a slight prominence of acidity, which is characteristic of almost all of Cyprus’s red wines.

Best Wine

Shiraz   I have nothing new to say about Sophocles Vlassides's Shiraz. I will only repeat what I noted in previous editions of this Guide: concentrated, complex, super wine. Not only the best Shiraz produced in Cyprus, but also the top locally produced red wine. The 2007 vintage is the winery's best Shiraz so far. The 2008 vintage, which I tasted immediately after bottling, appears to be exceptionally concentrated. In terms of colour, the wine is almost black, aromatically it is very rich in fruit and is also intensely alcoholic as the alcohol content is over 15 degrees! In terms of taste, the wine's body is more than obvious though the alcohol still stands out. Only time will show whether the wine will manage to absorb the abundance of alcohol or whether it will disadvantage an otherwise diachronically successful ageing wine.   Rating:  (2007) Rating:  -  (2008)

Recommended Wines

Vlassides Erythros   This is the cheapest red in the winery's range of wines. It is a blend from the Cabernet Franc, Grenache and Mataro varieties. Although the producer intends it to be a wine for everyday use rather than for ageing, Erythros is a quite sturdy wine and has medium term (3-4 years) ageing potential.   Rating: