Our vision is to produce wines of excellent quality comparable with the best on the global market. We aim at creating wines that you will enjoy from the first time you taste them and leave you with a unique and memorable experience for years to come – and at a price you can afford.

About Monolithos Winery

Monolithos is a family-owned unique boutique winery with something for everyone. We are firm believers in the importance and contribution of “terroir”, and in producing our premium wines, only local grapes are used. Thanks to Pachna's excellent climate and high altitude (about 800 metres above sea level), these grapes are grown and matured on the vines in an optimal environment. We strive to create elegant wines that are very much "old world", whilst at the same time making use of the best of modern technology. Our hope is that you will appreciate the wines we have nurtured in our vineyards which have been produced and bottled in our winery. 

The Place and its History

Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean, is one of the European Union’s smallest countries. Historical evidence confirms that wine was produced in the eastern Mediterranean between 5000-4000 B.C.  Modern excavations have established that there existed a wealthy and remarkable society whose prosperity seems to have originated from and depended on viticulture, wine production and wine trading.
Cypriot wine was so popular that the Pharaohs of Egypt, the ancient Greeks and later the Romans placed orders for it. Cyprus wines were superb and in great demand in olden days and were an essential part of official banquets. At such banquets, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra are said to have toasted each other with it. Eventually, Mark Anthony gave Cyprus to Cleopatra, the legendary Queen of Egypt, as an ultimate token of love.

Today, Cyprus is a modern country that effortlessly marries European culture with ancient enchantment. It is not by mere chance that Cyprus has this long tradition of grape growing. The reasons are apparent: vines have been cultivated in their natural climate and soil environment for centuries. Cyprus has an intense Mediterranean climate with strong seasonal characteristics in respect to weather, temperature and rainfall. Summers are hot from mid-May to mid-September, and winters are mild from November to mid-March.

The wine vineyards of Cyprus are mostly on the southern and western slopes of the Troodos mountain range with wine producing areas situated mainly in the Limassol district in the south (the “krasochoria” or the wine producing villages) and the Paphos district in the west. The vineyards are on hilly slopes, usually on terraces, of the Troodos Mountains with an altitude of 400m to 1300m above sea level. In the area of the “krasochoria”, where the soil is not sufficiently fertile for agriculture and the land is fractioned into small fields, wine grape growing wrote history and determined the distribution of human settlements.

The mountains are dotted with picturesque little villages where Cypriot hospitality abounds, where the donkey is a cherished beast of burden and where many nectarean wines can be sampled. Thousands of tiny vineyards cover the whole mountainous region encircled and protected by stone retaining walls; otherwise one of the violent flash floods that strike from time to time will wash away the loose earth. What vines like best is poor and well-drained soil. The majority of “krasochoria” soils are calcareous (chalk and limestone) sedimentary formations which are typically cool in temperature and which provide good water retention and drainage. 

The village of Pachna lies some 800 metres above sea level on the south western hills of the Troodos Mountain range and is the biggest of the krasochoria villages. On the limestone and chalky land of Pachna, the most common plant is the vine, with approximately 800 hectares cultivated with grapes. Various ancient objects have been discovered around the area of Pachna, which denote that settlements have existed since antiquity. According to archaeologists, the monoliths near the chapel of Ayios Stephanos, which for centuries were connected with legends, myths and a number of supernatural properties, are parts of special presses for olive oil production or perhaps grape crushers.