The place was deserted when we arrived at 10 am. We were greeted by Tina from South Africa whom was nice but she seemed not to be too passionate about wines in general. The new facility (they moved 3 years earlier to this place) was nice, a bit modern for our taste but the views exceptional. I can imagine that in spring when it is warmer, the experience would be better.
All 4 wines were okay, especially considering the price (5-10 euros). The white and rose were so-so. The red was tasty and a bit spicy with a nice aftertaste of pepper. The last red wine was the best and the only one matured in oak. Since Tina was alone at the facility, no food or snack was offered and we could not see the production facility nor the wine-cellar.
The last award posted on the wall was before the move to the new facility and except of the last red, all others were produced after the move.
The tasting was free of charge.
Getting there and away:
The trip was quite nice we took bus (648) from Polis to Kathikas (4 busses day). It is an easy 1,2 km walk to the Vasilikon winery from the main square and from there you can easily walk the 3 km to the Sterna Winery (Click here for the review of this winery) and then over and around the Hills (unpaved roads) to Giolou. Take bus 645 back to Polis (every hour). Please note that google maps does not show the trails but Bing maps does provide the trails (see picture).
One of the many great views during the walk:
missing) and all the wines were pretty bad. The wines lack a decent scent. In the semi-sweet wine we tasted added sugar (it has a distinct taste) and we suspected the wine is actually the same as the dry white (same for the semi-sweet rose and red). In other wineries the wine makers explained that Cyrpus wines are typically dry wines because of the soil and climate. The 1.5 liter bottle of 10 year old wine (priced at 30 Euro’s) even lacks a production year and is not better than any of the other wines. The port was reasonable and the Zivania (Cyprus traditional grape distilled drink, snapps like) was okay. The Zivania did not have any label on the bottle at all.
is no decent cellar with wooden barrels or so. The wine making facility is actually not shown and on the labels of the wines there is a text saying: “Produced and Bottled for Sterna Winery” suggesting that the wine is not produced there in the first place.