Tsiakkas Winery - Mountain Terroir Pioneer

A family winery at 1,200m altitude in the Pitsilia region, producing 200,000 bottles annually from 18 hectares. The second generation now leads, championing indigenous varieties like Yiannoudi and Promara. Taste from the tower overlooking Troodos peaks, including their 9-year-old Commandaria barrel sample.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Climb to the Tower — Taste Wine Pressed from the Highest Vineyard in Cyprus Wine · Price: low

   Tsiakkas Winery sits at 1,000m in the Pitsilia mountains. Their highest vineyard plots reach 1,460m — the apex of Cypriot viticulture. The tower tasting room floats above the whole operation.

   Costas Tsiakkas started this winery in 1988 with 500 bottles from his grandfather's abandoned vineyard. He did what everyone did in the 90s — planted Chardonnay, Merlot, the international stuff — then watched the wines taste like nowhere. So he ripped it all out and went back to the forgotten varieties nobody else wanted: Yiannoudi, Promara, Vamvakada, Mavro Mouklos. Today his sons Orestis and Ektoras run the operation from the tasting tower at Tsiakkas Winery (88 Ampelonon Street, Pelendri 4878, visit@tsiakkaswinery.com, +357 96 844111). The tower has a panoramic view across the Troodos peaks — visitors describe it as 'magical.' Choose the standard tasting (€8–€15) and ask specifically for the Pitsilia Xynisteri and the Vamvakada (Maratheftiko). The Xynisteri is the benchmark for this ancient variety finally being taken seriously as a dry wine. Hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–16:00 (Nov–Apr) / 11:00–17:00 (May–Oct), Sat 11:00–17:00. CLOSED Sundays.

   Backup: If the tower is reserved for a private event, the main shop tasting bar has the same wines. Same view from the terrace.

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2. 2 Ask Orestis About the Wine That Shouldn't Exist Wine · Price: moderate

   Orestis Tsiakkas makes a white wine aged in Commandaria barrels — a logical impossibility on paper, since Pelendri is outside the 14-village Commandaria zone. The result is a dry wine with the ghost of the world's oldest named wine inside it.

   Here's the paradox Orestis created: Commandaria is the oldest named wine in the world — made here in Cyprus since at least 800 BC, possibly 6,500 years of continuous production. It can only legally be produced in 14 specific villages — and Pelendri is NOT one of them. But Tsiakkas keeps aged Commandaria barrels in their cellar, and Orestis now ages his Pitsilia Xynisteri for 9 months in 1st-fill Commandaria barrels. The result: aromas of nectarine, bergamot, melon, and honey — 'aromatic profile reminiscent of semi-dry, but the palate is completely dry.' He also makes an orange wine from Xynisteri skins that WERE destined for Commandaria production. During the cellar tour (book via visit@tsiakkaswinery.com), when Orestis shows the barrel room, ask: 'Can we taste the Commandaria barrel-aged Xynisteri? And is there a barrel sample of the Commandaria?' These are not always poured in the standard tasting — but asking gets results here.

   Backup: If the barrel room isn't accessible, their bottled Commandaria (3 years French & American oak, 10+ year aging potential) is available in the shop for €15–20. Buy one.

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3. 3 Find the Grape That Cannot Pollinate Itself Wine · Price: moderate

   Maratheftiko — also called Vamvakada — is the only grape variety on Earth where every single flower is female. It physically cannot self-fertilize. To exist, 10–15% of every vineyard must be planted with companion varieties just to pollinate it. Tsiakkas grows it anyway. Only 3,000 bottles exist.

   Maratheftiko covers just 5% of Cyprus vineyards. The challenge isn't the wine — it's the vine. Every flower on the plant is female. No pollen. Without companion vines (Spourtiko or Xynisteri) interplanted in every row at specific spacing, the entire crop fails. Up to 40% of berry clusters show millerandage — berries of wildly different sizes in the same bunch — because pollination is never perfect. But those tiny uneven berries? Higher skin-to-juice ratio, more concentrated flavor. Tsiakkas produces exactly 3,000 bottles per year. Request the Vamvakada specifically in the tasting tower flight. When the glass arrives, hold it to the window — the color is a deep ruby-purple you don't see in other Cypriot reds. Smell for the violet note, that's the Maratheftiko calling card. Ask the staff: 'How many rows of companion vines do you plant per row of Maratheftiko?' The ratio varies and reveals how committed they are.

   Backup: If Vamvakada is sold out that vintage, ask for the Mavro Mouklos instead — 80-year-old ungrafted vines at 900m, only 2,000 bottles, served slightly chilled. Different expression, equally rare.

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4. 4 Walk to the UNESCO Frescoes That Survived Because Nobody Could Find Them History · Free

   Five minutes from the winery, hidden in the mountain village of Pelendri, is a church containing 14th-century Byzantine frescoes so remote they were never destroyed. The UNESCO committee called them among the finest surviving examples of Palaiologan painting in the entire Mediterranean.

   Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, this small church has been here in some form since the 12th century. The surviving structure at the Church of Timios Stavros (Holy Cross) in Pelendri village center (5-minute walk from the main square, GPS: 34.8927, 32.9498) dates from the 13th–14th century, and the walls are covered in frescoes spanning 400 years of Byzantine and post-Byzantine painting (1172 AD to the 16th century) — all in the same building. They survived centuries intact because the village was too steep, too remote, and too poor to attract the attention of armies, iconoclasts, or looters. Summer hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–13:00 & 15:00–17:30; Sat 9:00–13:00; CLOSED Sundays. If locked when you arrive, walk to the village kafenio and ask for the priest, or call +357-25552-369. Take your time inside — your eyes need to adjust to read the layers of painting on the apse.

   Backup: Even if the church is closed, the exterior and the village itself justify the stop. The stone architecture, the valley views, and the kafenio (where locals drink Cyprus coffee and eat loukoumades) make the visit worthwhile. The village has been here, more or less unchanged, since the 12th century.

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5. 5 Stand in the Highest Vineyard in Cyprus at Sunset Adventure · Free · Optional

   At 1,460m altitude — higher than most Alpine ski resorts in summer — Tsiakkas operates vineyard plots that look directly at the Troodos massif. The mountains under your feet are 92-million-year-old ocean floor, pushed up by the collision of Africa and Europe. These vines grow in ancient seabed.

   The Troodos Mountains are not ordinary mountains. They are an ophiolite — a fragment of the ancient Tethys Ocean floor, uplifted 92 million years after it formed at the bottom of the sea during the Cretaceous period. The African and European tectonic plates collided, and instead of subducting the oceanic crust downward, it was pushed UP. So when you look at the Troodos peaks from the high vineyard plots (visible from the tasting tower), you're looking at ancient ocean floor. The rocks under the vines — harzburgite, gabbro, pillow lava — formed at a spreading ridge on the deep ocean floor. At 1,200–1,460m altitude, the grapes ripen 6–8 weeks later than coastal Cyprus, concentrating acids and flavors that simply cannot happen in the lowlands. After your cellar tour, ask: 'Can we walk out to the high plot?' Tsiakkas is a family operation and they often say yes, especially on quiet weekdays. The sunset from here catches the Troodos peaks in amber light, and you'll be standing with a glass of Xynisteri grown in 92-million-year-old ocean floor.

   Backup: If the upper plots are inaccessible, the tower terrace achieves nearly the same view. Ask for a glass of wine to take outside — they accommodate this.

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Insider tips

• Open Monday-Saturday 10:00-16:00, reservations strongly recommended

• Book the full tour to see the highest vineyard in Cyprus at 1,460m

• Contact: visit@tsiakkaswinery.com or +357 96 844111