Maratheftiko (Vamvakada)
Cyprus · Red · Available (A)
The island’s serious red. Grown in sparse quantities around the island but mostly in the Pitsilia region, it was rediscovered in the 1980s with the revival of small boutique wineries. The problem with it is botanical: it does not have hermaphrodite flowers like most cultivated varieties and must be co-planted with others to achieve fertilisation, so bunches are frequently affected by millerandage — in practice it is interplanted with Mavro, Xynisteri or Spourtiko. The reward is deep ruby colour, substantial tannin, high acidity, and a dark berry and violet aromatic profile unlike anything else in the eastern Mediterranean. Estimates of its share of plantings vary between roughly 3% and 7% of red vineyard. Exported reliably.