Xynisteri
Cyprus · White · Available (A)
The dominant white and the island’s other Commandaria grape. It is the most widespread white variety in Cyprus at roughly 28.5% of plantings, cultivated island-wide but more than half of it in the Paphos region, and produces fresh, light wines of around 11–12% alcohol showing apple, peach, nectarine, citrus and floral notes. Altitude is everything: grown low and warm it is flabby and forgettable; grown at 800–1,200 m in Panagia or Pitsilia it gains real citrus tension and a chamomile-and-stone character. Increasingly seen in skin-contact, lees-aged and lightly oaked versions, which suit its texture well.