Late To The Show

My mind is failing me. Just realised I forgot to post on the 2014 Decanter World Wine Awards. As usual, The Rock's wineries partook in the soiree and many of them (again, not as many as in previous years) were awarded medals. Cyprus' best performing wine was Aes Ambelis' Commandaria, a wonderful version of the Cypriot classic that received a Gold Medal and that I had sampled earlier at Barrique Wine & Deli. Below is a comprehensive list.

Gold Medals

Aes Ambelis Commandaria

Silver Medals

2013 Aes Ambelis White (Xynisteri/Semillon)
2013 Ktima Gerolemo Xynisteri
2012 Makkas Winery Red (Maratheftiko/Shiraz/Lefkada)
2013 Sodap Kamantarena Rose (Shiraz/Lefkada)
2005 Sodap Saint Barnabas Commandaria
2011 Zambartas Wineries Maratheftiko
2012 Zambartas Wineries Maratheftiko

Bronze Medals

2013 Ktima Gerolemo Off-Dry Rose (Maratheftiko)
2012 Ktima Gerolemo Maratheftiko

2013 Vasilikon Winery Xynisteri
2013 Vasilikon Einalia Rose (Shiraz/Maratheftiko)
2013 Ktima Gerolemo Riesling

2013 Sodap Kamantarena Xynisteri

2012 Zambartas Wineries Shiraz-Lefkada
2013 Zambartas Wineries Xynisteri

Commended Medals

2011 Aes Ambelis Omiros Maratheftiko
2013 Aes Ambelis Rose (Marathefitko/Lefkada)
2013 Ktima Gerolemo Xynisteri

2013 Makkas Winery Rodostafylo Rose (Maratheftiko/Lefkada)
2013 Makkas Winery Xynisteri

2011 Makkas Winery Maratheftiko
2011 Makkas Winery Merlot
2009 Sodap Stroumbeli Maratheftiko
2013 Sodap Kamantarena White (Xynisteri-Semillon)
2010 Sodap Lefkada

Quandaries...

Results for the 2013 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) were released earlier this week. Overall, The Rock's performance was not as solid as in previous years with only one Silver Medal being awarded to Sodap's 2002 Saint Barnabas Commandaria. Beyond that, as usual, Cyprus received its fair share of Commended and Bronze medals.

From this and last year's results, it's pretty clear (to me at least) that only a handful of Cypriot wineries have chosen to send their wines to DWWA. Honestly, I wonder why. Do costs outweigh potential benefits? Do awards have little impact on a wine's reputation/sales in the Cypriot market? Are these contests perceived as being "biased" or not good appraisers of the quality of the wines sampled? Dear readers, if you have any insight into this, we'd appreciate your thoughts.

Anyhow, here's the list of awarded wines:

Silver Medals

2002 Sodap Saint Barnabas Commandaria

Bronze Medals

2010 Aes Ambelis Omiros (Maratheftiko)

2010 Vasilikon Winery Ayios Onoufrios (Red Blend)

2009 Vasilikon Winery Methy (Cabernet Sauvignon)

2012 Prophet Elias Gerolemo Muscat

2012 Sodap Kamantarena Xynisteri

2012 Sodap Stroumbeli Maratheftiko Rose

2010 The Anama Concept Commandaria

Commended Medals

2010 Aes Ambelis Ektor (Shiraz)

2012 Aes Ambelis Xinisteri-Semillon

2011 Makkas Winery Chardonnay

2010 Makkas Winery Merlot

2012 Makkas Winery Rodostafylo Rose

2010 Makkas Winery Syrah

2012 Prophet Elias Gerolemo Riesling

2012 Prophet Elias Gerolemo Maratheftiko Rose

2012 Sodap Kamantarena Rhine-Riesling

2012 Sodap Mountain Vines Semillon

2012 Sodap Mountain Vines Cabernet Sauvignon-Maratheftiko

2012 Sodap Stroumbeli Chardonnay

2009 Sodap Stroumbeli Shiraz

2009 The Anama Concept Commandaria

2009 Vouni Panayia Barba Yiannis Maratheftiko