The Wine Routes of Troodos

Heavenly Bliss

If you think that lovely wine and beautiful scenery make a perfect blend you might consider spending some of your time in Cyprus exploring the Wine routes of Troodos. Six separate wine routes can be identified as shown in this map: http://www.lovetroodos.com/discover-troodos/troodos-wine-routs.html .

A trip along these wine routes really is a lot more than finding the opportunity to taste some lovely wines – and Cyprus has many wines that regularly win international wine challenges. It is also a fabulous outing in an incredible mix of breath-taking mountain vistas, magical sea views and some extraordinarily pretty villages.

When you drive along the coastal road to Paphos and pass Aphrodite’s Rock, you can just imagine our ancestral story-tellers conjuring up images of this naked goddess of love emerging from the warm waves to cast spells  on the humans living on this romantic island with its turquoise waters, its conifers on the mountain hillsides stretching to the deep Mediterranean blue above, while aromas of wild thyme mingle with the sea air to massage one into a blissful state of total contentment.

 Aphrodite was not alone. There were other fun loving gods that were evoked by our ancient storytellers. Not least Dionysus, God of wine, who was said to have had two sons. One was Staphylus (which in ancient Greek was the word for cluster of grapes) and gave rise to the modern Greek word for grape – stafyli. The other was Oenopion meaning “Wine drinker”.  These gods certainly seemed to have believed in keeping wine in the family.

If you are in the Paphos area, you might like to explore the first and second wine routes shown on the map. If you get to Panagia, visit the pristine Vouni  Panagia winery where after tasting their wines, you can, subject to it being open,  have a lovely meze at their own restaurant. From Panagia you should not fail to visit the majestic spleandour of Cedar Valley.

There are many beautiful villages on the wine routes. One such, Lania, in the Commandaria wine route (5) near Limassol, has a delightful tradition of welcoming into people’s homes, visiting guests on certain days in the late spring. It also hosts a small picturesque wine museum with an old Olive press and Grape press. Once in the Limassol area, you might visit the wine museum in Erimi or the Commandaria wine museum in Zoopigi.

The author is a part owner of the UK company Wines and Tours Ltd www.winesandtours.co.uk, specialists in European Wine Tasting Holidays.

Because he actually lives in Cyprus, Wines and Tours has a strong offering of tours in Cyprus with 2, 3, 4 and 8 day wine tours.  http://www.winesandtours.co.uk/anytime-cyprus-wine-tour/.   They even have single day excursions.