Olympus
The Hadjipavlou family has been associated with wine more than any other group of people for they have systematically been dealing in wine since 1844 when the oldest winemaking business group in Cyprus (and one of the oldest in the whole of the Middle East) was established. The company, ETKO, had been doing great things until the end of the 1980’s, producing, for successive decades, thousands of tonnes of mainly bulk (unbottled) wine but also cheap, low quality bottled wine that easily found buyers in countries of the former Soviet bloc and mainly Russia. These markets were lost, due to competition from cheaper and better quality Italian and Spanish wines, leaving behind an immense gap that shook the wine industry in its totality, in an unprecedented manner. Short-sightedly, the Cyprus wine industry, with the state’s blessing, had for years been relying on flimsy foundations, chasing after quantity rather than quality. Such crises can bring about either death or regeneration.
It was the latter that occurred in the case of ETKO. In 1992 the newly built regional winery of Olympus came into being, evidence to the company’s inevitable decision to abandon the original winery and move within the grape-producing zone, in this case the traditional wine village of Omodos, with the main objective of gradually switching over to the production of higher quality wines.
Best Wine
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Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
This rosé wine is made exclusively from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety. It features a dark rose colour, a pleasant medium-intensity nose of morello, raspberry, pomegranate and strawberry aromas, and a light, rather simple mouth with satisfactory acidity, average aromas and also some tannic touches. It should be drunk while young and lively, within a year from harvest.
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Recommended Wines
Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Simple-structured, medium-intensity aromas reminiscent of morello, blackberry and blackcurrant as well as red flowers; medium-body mouth, with good fruit but also very intense and harsh (for this type of wine) tannins that detract from the wine's overall flavour.
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Chardonnay
The winery's Chardonnay will not convey the expected Chardonnay impression in the glass. It has a light yellow colour and features light, simple-structured aromas of ripe yellow fruits. It has a light mouth with good acidity and satisfactory aftertaste. It should be drunk in the first twelve months of its life.
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Shiraz 2007
This dark red wine is Excessively abundant in two aspects: in alcohol and barrel features. On bringing the glass to your nose, you instantly sense the typical toasted smell of the oak barrel in which it was fermented. Equally intensive is the wine's 15% alcohol content. Alcohol and barrel also dominate the mouth.
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