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Dhavlos · Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 4697 Location: Birmingham

whats that mean?

brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

Dhavlos wrote: whats that mean?

His wife is Turkish Cypriot. :wink:

Xenos 2Fan · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:24 pm Post subject: Re: Vineyards

Voice of reason wrote: I live in England but know Cyprus fairly well.

I am interested in developing a vineyard either in the Kyrenia mountains or in the more traditional areas in the foothills of Mt Troudos.

This can take the form of an existing vineyard or a new development.

If anybody can offer ideas on location, viability, plans for joint venture I would be pleased to hear from you.

Hiya Voice of reason, welcome to the forum.

I think the viability for making wine in Cyprus is quite high since our cypriot friends have been making it for several thousand years.

I'm not sure of what type of wine you want to produce and what your target market is. If I'm not mistaking the vintners in Cyprus traditionally make a resinous wine. (I hear this trend is changing). I don't know what grapes are popular in Europe right now but in the States the following are excellent grapes imo.

Red: Cabernet Savignion, Merlot, and Pinot Noir
White: Pinot Grigio and the always reliable Chardonay

If you chose to go with these grapes you would either find an existing vinyard that has these grapes or you would have to start from scratch. If you chose to start from scratch you would have to understand that it will take you at least 3 years before you get any sort of harvest of any decent quality. In addition you would have to make sure that you have an excellent water source for those first three years as the vines soak up an enourmous amount of water.

In Texas we use the three tier Trellis system for maximum yield and managability. We also plant the vines from east to west so they can benefit from the sun all day long.

After 3 years the vines roots should be self sufficient in finding and extracting water from the ground. (but you will still need a good source of water) They will become extremely stout when they finally find their own water source. After three years you should plant rose bushes at the end of the trellis systems. They will absorb any extra water that can lead to root rot.

How are you planning on fermenting the wine? Are you going to go high tech or traditional? If you plan on going high tech get ready to shell out some major bucks for your set-up. You're gonna have to go high tech eventually if you plan on selling to Europe.

How many acres are wanting to plant?

This is a very noble and cool business to get into but it's very time consuming and costly. An alternative way is to contract local growers in the region. You buy the grapes and then process them into wine at your facolity. This way you don't have the growing pains of a full operation. The only setback is you don't control the quality of the grape. Terrain, soil, temperatures even wind direction can play a role in the character of the grape.

Lastly, I would check with the local authorities about starting a vinyard. It may be illegal to produce alcohol for sale in Cyprus. I don't know.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.

brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

Xenos 2Fan wrote: Voice of reason wrote: I live in England but know Cyprus fairly well.

I am interested in developing a vineyard either in the Kyrenia mountains or in the more traditional areas in the foothills of Mt Troudos.

This can take the form of an existing vineyard or a new development.

If anybody can offer ideas on location, viability, plans for joint venture I would be pleased to hear from you.

Hiya Voice of reason, welcome to the forum.

I think the viability for making wine in Cyprus is quite high since our cypriot friends have been making it for several thousand years.

I'm not sure of what type of wine you want to produce and what your target market is. If I'm not mistaking the vintners in Cyprus traditionally make a resinous wine. (I hear this trend is changing). I don't know what grapes are popular in Europe right now but in the States the following are excellent grapes imo.

Red: Cabernet Savignion, Merlot, and Pinot Noir
White: Pinot Grigio and the always reliable Chardonay

If you chose to go with these grapes you would either find an existing vinyard that has these grapes or you would have to start from scratch. If you chose to start from scratch you would have to understand that it will take you at least 3 years before you get any sort of harvest of any decent quality. In addition you would have to make sure that you have an excellent water source for those first three years as the vines soak up an enourmous amount of water.

In Texas we use the three tier Trellis system for maximum yield and managability. We also plant the vines from east to west so they can benefit from the sun all day long.

After 3 years the vines roots should be self sufficient in finding and extracting water from the ground. (but you will still need a good source of water) They will become extremely stout when they finally find their own water source. After three years you should plant rose bushes at the end of the trellis systems. They will absorb any extra water that can lead to root rot.

How are you planning on fermenting the wine? Are you going to go high tech or traditional? If you plan on going high tech get ready to shell out some major bucks for your set-up. You're gonna have to go high tech eventually if you plan on selling to Europe.

How many acres are wanting to plant?

This is a very noble and cool business to get into but it's very time consuming and costly. An alternative way is to contract local growers in the region. You buy the grapes and then process them into wine at your facolity. This way you don't have the growing pains of a full operation. The only setback is you don't control the quality of the grape. Terrain, soil, temperatures even wind direction can play a role in the character of the grape.

Lastly, I would check with the local authorities about starting a vinyard. It may be illegal to produce alcohol for sale in Cyprus. I don't know.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.

That is 'some' info from one of our non-wine drinking members who has no interest what so ever in grapes. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Xenos 2Fan · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:36 pm Post subject:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Love the stuff. 8)

brother · Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 8920 Location: London/Cyprus

Xenos 2Fan wrote: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Love the stuff. 8)

Nahhhhh...you pulling my leg tatli kardesim. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Xenos 2Fan · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:40 pm Post subject:

You know the ole saying my Excellent Brother: If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Voice of reason · Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 6

Xenos 2, thank you so much for your thorough information. Bit rushed right now but will answer fully later

VoR

Xenos 2Fan · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:43 pm Post subject:

My pleasure VoC.

Here is site that will be very useful for you. It's about Texas grape growing and wine making but wine is wine and all considerations should apply to Cyprus as well. In Texas it cost anywhere from 5000 - 9000 $US per acre to get started and maintaintenace. This does not include production facilities. This amount should be considerably less in Cyprus, especially the North where labor is so cheap unfortunately.

http://winegrapes.tamu.edu/grow/start.shtml

They have other helpful site links as well.