A Thursday quick hitter. A couple weeks back, several Cypriot wines were awarded Gold and Silver medals during the 14th Thessaloniki Wine Competition. A brief glance at the results shows quite the success for the Cypriot variety Xynisteri in 2013: four Gold and three Silver out of a total sixteen medals collected by The Rock's wineries. Am I reading too much into this or was 2013 a good year for the grape?
Gold Medals
2010 Vlassides Winery Private Selection (Red Blend)
2005 Sodap Saint Barnabas Commandaria
2013 Sodap Stroumpeli Chardonnay
2011 Ayia Mavri Winery Mosxatos
2013 Sodap Kamantarena Xynisteri
2013 Zambartas Wineries Xynisteri
2013 Vlassides Winery White (Xynisteri/Sauvignon Blanc)
2013 Ktima Gerolemo Xynisteri Dry
Silver Medals
2012 Zambartas Wineries Epicourios (Lefkada/Merlot)
2009 Vassilikon Winery Methi (Cabernet Sauvignon)
2013 Vassilikon Winery White (Xynisteri)
2012 Ktima Gerolemo Maratheftiko
2008 Vardalis Winery Maratheftiko
2013 Kolios Winery Persefoni (Xynisteri)
2012 Zambartas Wineries Maratheftiko
2013 Ktima Gerolemo Xynisteri Medium/Sweet
On a related (island wine) note, Grand Gold Medals were handed out to the 2004 Domaine Sigalas P.D.O. Santorini Vin Santo and 2010 U.V.C. Samos P.D.O. Samos Nectar. Nothing like a duo of stickies to sweeten up our lives.