WHO WE ARE
The Cyprus Oenophile Association currently has more than 1000 members. It is composed of people who genuinely love wine, understand its multidimensional nature, and appreciate wine as art, history, tradition, and culture. For this reason, they gladly participate in the Association’s activities and actively contribute to the achievement of its objectives.
Cyprus is demonstrably the oldest wine-producing country in the Mediterranean, with a wine tradition that travels back to its ancient history. It has large vine-growing areas, several modern wineries, and many wine lovers.
It, therefore, needed an association that would breathe new life into the relations between wine and man.
Thus, in 1998, the Cyprus Oenophile Association was founded in Limassol, Cyprus. Its primary objective is to “promote education about wine and spirituous beverages of wine origin.”
In this context, it aspires to educate and inform its members and the public on wine-related topics, including wine production, moderate consumption, the wine’s evolution through history, its nutritional value and its role in human relations and society; it further aims to contribute to the effort of promoting the image and upgrading the quality of Cypriot wine.
The Association’s ambition is to bring Cypriots closer to wine by learning how to perceive and correctly interpret the different wine-related stimuli and derive the greatest enjoyment from this divine gift.
An informed and discerning consumer is looking for improvements and quality upgrades not only in the production and marketing of wine but also in the preservation, presentation and serving of wine in restaurants.
The Cyprus Oenophile Association achieves its objectives by organising lectures, presentations, seminars, oenology courses, and wine tasting seminars for its members and the public. It organises informative meetings for its members and educational trips to wine-producing regions and wineries in Cyprus and abroad. It also organises lunches, dinners, and wine tasting events. It actively participates in local wine-related cultural events and uses the media to this effect. It cooperates with related associations, governmental bodies and agencies, local administrative authorities, organised bodies, and Cypriot wineries.
Since 2016, the wine courses organised by the Cyprus Oenophile Association have offered the possibility to obtain a certification under the Regulation for the Certification of Persons as Connoisseur Οίνου [“Wine connoisseur”]. The Association promoted this Regulation in collaboration with the Cyprus Certification Company (CCC) and the Cyprus Sommelier Association. All those who attend the relevant wine courses have the right to take an examination organised by the CCC and, if successful, to be awarded the Connoisseur Οίνου Certificate. To date, more than 115 people have been certified as Connoisseur Οίνου.
