Zambartas Wine Tasting Xynisteri, Rosé and Maratheftiko

Zambartas Wine Tasting with Marleen Zambartas

Tasting Zambartas Wine with Marleen Zambartas! Marleen and I tasted some of the finest bottles of wine produced by Zambartas Wineries. In the winery’s beautiful tasting room we shared some of the Zambartas single vineyard aromatic Xynisteri white whine, followed by their fruity Zambartas Rosé wine and their bold, powerful Maratheftiko red wine. We discuss these three beautiful Cyprus wines and potential food and wine pairing suggestions.

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Video Transcript

The highlight of our visit to Zambartas Wineries was tasting their celebrated wine. Marleen Zambartas and I bonded over three very special wines that her husband, and celebrated vigneron, Marcos Zambartas has created. Enjoy the tasting video!

WineScribble on the Road

Hey Tasters! This is Annabelle McVine. WineScribble is out on the road again. We are here at the Zambartas tasting room. And I am here with my wonderful friend Marleen Zambartas. I have here a Xynisteri single vineyard. I have the famous Zambartas Rosé. This was the first wine the Zambartas winery produced. And, finally we have the champion of red grape varietals, the Cypriot Maratheftiko.

Xynisteri Zambartas Wine

Shall we taste the Xynisteri first? Yes, yes! We can start with the Xynisteri. It is a Xynisteri single vineyard which means that we pick the grapes only from one vineyard. It’s a vineyard that is almost 30 years old located at almost 900 meters of altitude. It’s very aromatic! I can smell citrus. Yes it has also some more… you can probably smell a little bit the oak as well. It has light barrel ageing. Very light. You said said only part of the wine was oaked? Yes. I see. Yes. Flowers! It has some floral notes. Some citrusy notes, you know. It’s maybe some more towards a bit sweeter fruits, it’s peachy, there is apple. There is a little bit of apricot actually. Cypriot apricot, that slightly more sour apricot that you get in Cyprus. Yes, yes. I can smell that.

So, what would you pair this with? I know you have a wonderful blog and I love your recipes. What would you pair this Xynisteri with? I would personally, I like seafood a lot. And the seafood in Cyprus is great, so I would personally put a nice Tsipoura or Sea Bass in the oven. Oh wonderful. Make some grilled vegetables with it.

Zambartas Wine – the Famous Rosé

And now, the Rosé. This was the first wine that the Zambartas winery produced? Yes in 2006 my husband Marcos and his father Akis made the first Rosé. And from the start it has been a popular wine. Strawberry. I always get a bit of pomegranate, a bit of cherry. It is like sweet red fruits, so that actually gives the wine some refreshing scents. It is sweet on the nose, but actually, when you taste it, it is a dry Rosé wine. All these are sweet berries.

When a Rosé wine has more body, it can be matched with more different styles of food as well. So this wine can for example perfectly well match a Cypriot Meze. Where you start with your dips and your salads and then you go to your grilled chicken and your… even your grilled meat in the oven because this Rosé has flavour. It’s very flavoursome. It has a good body. This is a very nice match for the whole Meze.

The Maratheftiko Zambartas Wine

And now this rich king of grapes this Maratheftiko. My goodness look at that colour. Yes, the Maratheftiko is a real Cypriot variety of course. This Maratheftiko has been in barrel for 12 months, French oak barrels, 2- to 3- year old barrels. This is beautiful. Maratheftiko, and it’s a young wine is it a 2016, can be a bit tannic. It’s a wine that can age for many years so the tannins skip the structure during ageing. So Maratheftiko is a perfect variety to keep in the bottle for a few years. Leave it as a little treasure in your wine cabinet and open it after a few years. And the tannins will become even softer.

So what would you pair this with? It seems, and especially if it is tannic, I guess it needs a meaty dish. Yes, yes. Because it has a good full body. And it has nice structured tannins, it is a perfect wine to have with lamb, for example. Or with beef stew from the oven, grilled steak, this style of dish. I think this would be lovely, even with a more exotic lamb dish, like a Moroccan stew. Yes, that would work really really well. Because of the Middle Eastern flavours, the spiciness for example.

Saying Goodbye

So, there you have it Tasters! Three gorgeous wines. Single vineyard Xynisteri. Light Rosé, with a full range. You can just about pair this wine with anything, from seafood and salad all the way to barbecue meats. And of course the Maratheftiko, that you can pair with stews probably more of a winter wine. But, I’m a red wine lover and I will not stop drinking this just because it’s summer.

These wines are beautifully crafted and you can taste the love invested in the land and the people who work the land in every glass. I have no doubt you’ll enjoy them too. If you liked this video hit the like button below. If you’d like to see more of these videos share with your friends and subscribe to our YouTube channel now. And don’t forget to hit the notification bell. Also please leave us a comment below we love talking about wine. And remember those who drink get drunk those who taste feel sublime. I’ll see you on the next video!

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