Zambartas Winery - Commandaria Masters

How to Complete

4 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Find the Winery That Rescued 14 Lost Grapes From Oblivion

   history Free

   You're standing on land tended by the family that saved Cyprus's indigenous wine identity. In the 1980s, Akis Zambartas — then Chief Winemaker at KEO, Cyprus's largest wine producer — spent four years driving to every corner of the island, knocking on farmers' doors, hunting unidentified vines in forgotten plots. He found 13 (some sources say 14) grape varieties that had no official record. To certify them as genuinely indigenous, he called Pierre Galet in France — the world's greatest ampelographer. Galet flew to Cyprus and confirmed them. That act of rescue earned Akis membership to the International Academy of Wine. He founded Zambartas Winery at 39 Grigores Afxentiou Street, Agios Amvrosios village (4710), in 2006. Five of those rescued varieties grow in these very rows around the building. Arrive and walk the estate grounds before your tasting to see which rows are which variety.

   🔄 BACKUP: If a vineyard walk isn't possible before tasting, ask your host to point out the indigenous variety rows from the tasting room window — the view across the estate is clear from inside.

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   Taste the Grape Variety That Can't Pollinate Itself

   wine $$

   When the Maratheftiko arrives in your glass during the indigenous varieties tasting (book +357 25 94 24 24, €22.50 per person, Mon–Fri 10:00–16:00, Sat 10:00–16:30), hold it up. This wine shouldn't exist. Maratheftiko is a female-only variety — it has no male flowers, meaning it cannot self-pollinate. To grow it, every third row in the vineyard must be planted with Mavro vines purely as pollinators, sacrificing yield for the sake of one extraordinary grape. Jancis Robinson's team has written that Maratheftiko is "without doubt the best variety of Cyprus" and has "great potential" — and Akis Zambartas himself identified and documented it during that 1980s research project. On the nose: violets, black cherries, sweet spice. In the mouth: rich red fruit, soft tannins. When Marcos (or his team) pours the Maratheftiko, ask: "Can you tell us about the pollinator rows?" — they love this question and it launches the story of the whole vineyard's logic.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the indigenous tasting isn't available on your date, the premium range tasting also includes wines from this estate's organic vineyards. The Commandaria barrel sample is included in both packages.

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   Drink From the Barrel of a Wine Homer Wrote About in 800 BC

   wine $$

   The tasting ends with a draw of Commandaria directly from a barrel — Zambartas's Melusine Commandaria, made from 100% Xynisteri grapes sourced from Zoopigi village (one of the 14 PDO-designated villages). The grapes are dried for two weeks on elevated drying beds with partial shade, then fermented with naturally present wild yeast, then aged 10–11 years in used oak barrels. The result is amber-gold, thick with dried fruit, honey, and orange peel, with an acidity that stops it from being cloying. Here's the timeline you're drinking: Hesiod wrote about the sweet wine of Cyprus around 800 BC. At King Richard the Lionheart's wedding in Limassol in 1191, he declared it "the wine of kings and the king of wines." On December 10, 2025 — just weeks ago — UNESCO inscribed Commandaria on its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. When the Commandaria is poured, ask to see or touch the barrel if it's accessible — Zambartas staff regularly invite visitors into the cellar space. Let it coat the glass and sip it slowly — this is a wine designed to be contemplated.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the barrel sample isn't available that day (rare), the bottled Melusine Commandaria is always available to purchase and taste in the room. The 2011 and 2012 vintages are among the most praised.

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4. ⛰️ 4

   Hunt the Single Vineyard Wines That Never Leave Cyprus

   Optional

   adventure $

   Zambartas produces a Single Vineyard range — four wines, each from one specific certified organic plot — that they do not export. At all. You can only buy them here, at the winery, in person. One of those single vineyards was planted in 1921. Over 100 years old. When Marcos recently purchased it and mapped the vines, he found at least three additional varieties that haven't been formally identified yet. The old-vines Mavro from that 1921 plot produces a wine that tastes like it was made in a different century — because it was. After your tasting in the retail area, tell the host you'd like to see the Single Vineyard range. Ask which vintages are in stock and specifically: "Is the 1921 old vines Mavro available?" — it sells out. Buy at least two bottles: one to drink that evening in Cyprus, one to keep. These wines have no other distribution channel anywhere in the world.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the Single Vineyard range is sold out, the standard Zambartas range (Maratheftiko, Xynisteri, Melusine Commandaria) is available and exported to select UK and European retailers — but the single vineyard wines are winery-exclusive only.

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Insider Tips

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  Tours and tastings daily 10:00-16:30 by appointment

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  The premium experience pairs 5 wines with locally-sourced canapes

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  Phone: +357 25 942 424 or email info@zambartaswineries.com