The Mediterranean cultural diversity and its progressive human achievements are bewildering The Cyprus copper route spurred new levels of sophistication on Rhodes and Santorini Their refined pottery frescoes and advanced citystate economy are simply breathtaking The ever enterprising Phoenicians were not only trading wine but became historys first art dealers On central Crete the foot press of Vathypetro in the limestonerich hills above Heraklion shows how valued wine was for these sophisticated societies The commercial lawinscribed tablets and hallmarked amphorae in the museum of Thassos are as relevant today as they were in 350BC Essentially wine was tasted by a committee and granting taxpaid appellation of origin gave birth to complex trading laws Thassios oenos was a grand cru in its time selling at up to four times the price of generic wines
For centuries these trading bases moved from east to west around this midearth pond Astronomy and mathematics perfected marine navigation The known world was never to be the same again More recently a littleknown change of direction springing from Greece into the islands shoreline and mountain slopes of the Eastern Mediterranean has been taking place A clutch of technicians viticulturists nursery specialists and consulting oenologists are now bringing about change on Cyprus and a vineyard and wineryinvestment frenzy in Lebanon and Israel
A leading Cyprus figure the late Akis Zambartas knew the way forward after the frozen in time Cyprus sherry period Heading a team of specialists he drew a list of 14 completely unknown indigenous grape varieties A visit with him to Mt Troodos villages is memorable With great ease he slipped into incomprehensible to me archaic Greek He was quizzing the ageing farmer on white Spourtiko and red Maratheftiko Amongst others from this list Yiannoudi red is now singled out as highly promising Stephanos Koundouras professor at the University of Thessaloniki has been consulting on viticulture to numerous wineries over a decade Ampelographer and nursery owner Kostas Bakassietas is presently helping in producing new virusfree plants as well as in how to select and match vines to older or newer place names Climate change Cypriots are planting higher with red vines now up to 700m The white Xinisteri can now be found up at 1500m A single vineyard Xinisteri has just bagged the first Gold medal at the 2015 Decanter World Wine Awards Cyprus has been energised by dozens of boutique estates There are growing pains though Several terroirdriven wines are indications of changes afoot Thanks to newly planted vineyards coupled with precise farming techniques once sleeper Cyprus beyond worldclass commandaria is on course to realising its potential
Lebanon has a bonanza of new vineyards and wineries If the betterknown Beeka Valley lies at 1000m investment is pouring into the claylimestone plateaus of Barka and Ainata 16001950m The Frenchinfluenced past focused on red blends Bakassietas is supplying not only Bordeaux and Rhone specialties but he has added Assyrtiko and Aghiorghitiko With diurnal temperature variation I am betting on some interesting wines coming on stream Research is not limited to aforementioned imports Very curious to see more of the underrevival rare indigenous white Obaideh which bears resemblance to a hypothetical MonemvasiaAthiriXinisteri cross
Israel has highaltitude vineyards too Early investment from the Rothchilds cast a redcentric culture Whitewine interest is now booming Athens TEI professor and veteran winemaker Yiannis Paraskevopoulos is consulting to MAIA Mediterranean Approach Israeli Art One of the most progressive openminded ventures which belongs to the Tulip winery The development of a Mediterranean range has spurred identity searching with a balance of white and red including the brilliantly named Mare Nostrum Bakassietas is also in Israel consulting MAIA bringing not only his Frenchvine insight of what works how and best in hot climates but also his expertise with the new generation of great Greek grapes in another historyinthemaking moment
Wine diplomacy is one of the most exciting positive developments to emerge from the crisis However unexplored dynamics and broader synergies beckon for further exploration The Lebanese and Israelis are brilliant traders Their powerful worldwide networks could be the first in modern times when different cultures of so much history share mutually beneficial regional identity Sommeliers love to explore offthebeatenpath stuff Just think of fascinating content under an EasternMediterranean umbrella There is another factor modernday tablets access another world beyond what the 350BC Thassos prototype ever could