From time to time, we would like to share a recipe with you. An all-time favourite of the Zambartas family, something traditional Cypriot or an exciting new discovery in a cookbook. Today’s recipe, is lamb from the oven. Lamb is a classic for anybody that grew up in Cyprus or visits the island frequently. It was rightly so included in a beautiful book called “Cyprus, a culinary journey”. A culinary travel book with recipes of
Today I experienced my first real ‘baptism’ into the tradition of Easter Flaounes. Yes, during my years in Cyprus, I ate them, both homemade and from the bakery. There is no way to escape them during Easter time in Cyprus. The oven baked pastries, stuffed with a mixture of halloumi, anari, herbs, raisins and eggs, are a good savoury snack. However, I never developed a real liking for them. Until today. Today I learned that
I discovered this salad a few years ago in one of my favorite cooking books* and it quickly became a ‘regular’ on the Zambartas’ family table. It is a perfect side dish or starter for a bbq party, but also delicious on its own for a light summer lunch or dinner wit a glass of Rose. The mix of dades and almonds, which give the salad a sweet note, is perfectly balanced by the
The visit of our Australian friends last week to Cyprus, threw Marcos and I back in time 10 years (!), to the place where our story started. Down under, between the vines and kangaroos, Marcos became a winemaker and I entered the Zambartas story. Australia is really at the heart of our winery and family in many ways. It was Marcos bold decision to study winemaking there, instead of in Europe, and fly to the
This year our vintage team is joined by Marie Tabar, 3rd year student of Enology at SupAgro Montpellier and Natalia Kataiftsi, who just finished her masters in Viticulture & Enology in Thessaloniki. Marie will be assisting Marcos in the winery, whereas Natalia’s focus will be mostly on the vineyards, where she helps Christodoulos. So ladies, let’s introduce you to our readers! Where & how did you grow up? Marie I have grown up in a little village of
August started and it seems the whole of Europe is on holidays. I receive pictures from all my friends on the beach, sightseeing and relaxing… From the moment I met Marcos, and we decided things would get ‘serious’, I knew that I would never be going for holidays anymore in August! Instead I would be either working hard or be at home waiting for him while he is busy with the harvest. Over the years
The season of stonefruits started in Cyprus, a mark for the start of summer! I personally love all stone fruits; apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines… They are a source of antioxidants, the kids adore them and their full sweet taste and balanced acidity make them perfect for baking and cooking desserts. In Cyprus they are grown in abundance. Our local grocery store stacks full crates of them as soon as you enter the door. Even the
A modern and easily distinguishable label. Different from the Zambartas Range, and at the same time in line with our characteristic style. Something that expresses the vineyard. The soil. The vines. The beauty of its age. The typical way it is cultivated. The robust character of a vine in a hot climate. Something that touches on the essence of a Single Vineyard Range. And finally, something that makes the label ‘ours’. All of the above
The Vineyard The vineyard was planted in Spring of 1989; at a moment that I was a young boy, probably not too eager to return to primary school in Nicosia after the Easter holidays. I could have never imagined that skipping 25 years, the vineyard was purchased by our winery and the vision of a Xynisteri Single Vineyard label would start to morph. The vineyard is unique in many ways. Its south-west orientation allows for enough
If you walk into our cellar during the harvest period, you are entering a happy but noisy place. There is always some machinery working. The press might be finishing it pressing cycle. Pumps can be running. The crushing machine could be in full swing. The forklift moving around a small tank. Crates unloading. Stainless steel tools clinging and singing. Tanks providing background noise of soft fermentation bubbling. On top of that there is the team
Her eyes squeezed against the bright sunlight. Her hair was covered with a scarf, her face full of deep lines from age and years of work in the fields. Her hands dirty and rough, holding her pruning scissors. Behind her, her husband was loading their donkey with grapes. Kuria Eleftheria looked at me in a disapproving way and then said: ‘This girl is no good for picking grapes, why did you bring her to the
I have been contemplating for a long while about starting a blog, and decided that with the launch of our new website, the time has come to finally pick up my pen. My next doubt was whether to write under a pen-name or just as me, Marleen. I choose a pen-name; ‘winemaker’s wife’. Not because I just define myself as the ‘the wife of’. That is way too non-feminist for me. Besides that I