Cyprus is a country with over 4000 years heritage in great wines and has contributed substantially to the development of viticulture throughout the world. Over the centuries Cyprus has retained a strong tradition in fine wine production.
There are about fifteen local and sixty imported varieties of vines. Of the local grapes, two namely the red “Mavro” and the white “Xynisteri”, are used in making the world's oldest continuously produced wine the "Commandaria".

The Commandaria, is made from The Mavro and Xynisteri grapes. These are dried in the sun for about two weeks leading to the shrivelling of the grapes which in turn concentrates their sugar, and intensifies their aroma.
The grapes are then crushed and pressed. The juice is fer­mented in large open tanks where the high sugar content of the grape juice causes the fermentation to stop at around 18% of alcohol.
The large wineries then buy the wine and take it to their cellars in Limassol where alcohol is added for conservation. The wine is then left to mature in large wooden casks.

The Commandaria together with the Tokaj wine of Hungary and Slovakia are known as the: "Wines of Kings and Kings of Wines" because they were the preferred wines at the royal courts of France, Russia and England.
The origin of the Malvasia grape, used for the production of the Madeira's wine, can also be traced to cyprus.
In the past grapes were being collected by the farmers in the countryside, this usually took several days until the lorries were loaded for the grapes to be transported to the major wineries in Limassol . The grapes thus suf­fered considerably in the sun or the occasional rain, and the juice of the ripest grapes was lost during the long wait until finally reaching the winery. Consequently this negatively affected the quality of the produced table wines. However, during the past twenty five years the situation has substantially changed.
Nowadays grapes are collected and packed in small crates, replacing the large traditional baskets carried by donkeys. The crates are then delivered by pick-up trucks to the winery. The grapes thus arrive at the winery in perfect condition for the production of high quality wine.
The biggest improvement in the quality of the Cyprus wine came as a result of the creation of over 35 small modern wineries, boutique wineries, which have been built in the hills, right in the middle of the vineyards. At the same time, the large traditional wine producers in Limassol, KEO, ETKO, SODAP and LOEL, have also been actively upgrading their facilities and vastly improving the quality of their wines by adding regional production centres in the Krasochoria (wine villages) areas at foothills of the Troodos mountains and close to the local vineyards.
Some of the large wineries are also using imported varieties, such as Shiraz , Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The “Xynisteri” grape, which is grown in Cyprus in large quantities is the traditional grape used for making white wine. The “Xynisteri” which is grown on slopes at high altitudes has low acidity and when picked when its ripe it also has the fruit flavours and extracts.
Occasionally, small quantities of more aromatic grapes is blended in, such as the Malaga and the Kamelle grape in some white wines. As far as the red wine is concerned, the major local grape is Mavro, which means "black" in Greek. This grape is grown in larger quantities than the white ones. The Mavro grape has a pale colour and low acidity, and is there­fore is usually blended with other reds of intense colour and higher acidity, such as, the local Ofthelmo grape.
The “Maratheftico” which is another local black grape is better for blending due to its good acidity and heavy tannin. Due to the small available quantities of the Ofthalmo and Maratheftico, many of wine makers use imported varie­ties for blending such as the Mataro , Carignan and Grenache. However, some of the imported red varieties, the Mourvedre, Shiraz and the Cabernet Sauvignon are produced unblended.
Additionally, there are also many high quality rose wines in Cyprus which are suitable for the local climate. Thus, visitors to Cyprus find a varied and wide range of locally produced wines and can be enjoyed with a local meal or a Cyprus Meze under the warm and ever-shining Cypriot sun.