Cyprus’s main native white grape, making light, citrus-fresh wines on the Troodos slopes. The island’s vines escaped phylloxera and remain ungrafted, growing on their own roots as they did before the nineteenth century.
Wine is grown, not cooked, and made in a licensed cellar; there is no kitchen procedure to write.
What goes into it
- Xynisteri grapes
- yeast
How it is made
Picked from high vineyards where the altitude keeps the nights cool, the grapes are pressed and fermented cool in steel and bottled young. Some producers now age it on its lees or in oak, but the classic version is made to be drunk within a year or two.
How long it takes: one vintage a year
How it is eaten
Cold with grilled fish, halloumi and meze.
History
Cyprus’s main native white grape, grown on the Troodos slopes; the island’s vines escaped phylloxera and remain ungrafted.
Frequently asked questions
What is Xynisteri?
Xynisteri is a wine & spirit from Cyprus: indigenous white grape making light, citrus-fresh Cypriot wines. Cyprus’s main native white grape, grown on the Troodos slopes; the island’s vines escaped phylloxera and remain ungrafted.
How is Xynisteri made?
Picked from high vineyards where the altitude keeps the nights cool, the grapes are pressed and fermented cool in steel and bottled young. Some producers now age it on its lees or in oak, but the classic version is made to be drunk within a year or two. It takes one vintage a year.
Can I make Xynisteri at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Wine is grown, not cooked, and made in a licensed cellar; there is no kitchen procedure to write.
What goes into Xynisteri?
Xynisteri grapes, yeast.
How is Xynisteri eaten?
Cold with grilled fish, halloumi and meze.
