Πιτσιλιά (Pitsilia)

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Pitsilia is characterised by mountainous terrain with pronounced natural slopes, at elevations ranging from 600 to 1,400 metres, with average gradients of 20 to 40 degrees.
• The soils of the area are volcanic, stony, and infertile, in a landscape marked by numerous ravines and multiple ridge lines.
• The climate is relatively mild during the summer months and cold in winter, with a mean daily temperature of 14.4 °C based on measurements recorded for the period 1991–2005.
• Mean daily temperature in summer ranges between 21.3 and 24.5 °C, while in winter it ranges between 5.1 and 6.8 °C.
• Mean annual rainfall is around 744.5 mm, with December, January, February, and March recording the highest precipitation, while the remaining months receive minimal rainfall.
• The mean daily sunshine duration in the area amounts to 7.6 hours per day.

• The land is terraced in order to make vineyard establishment feasible, and the vine — with its modest requirements — was the ideal crop for these soils.
• Vine spacing is irregular due to the rugged terrain, weed control is carried out mainly by hand, and some vineyards are irrigated by surface flooding.
• Vineyards are trained mainly in the gobelet system, and the varietal composition consists almost exclusively of Mavro and Xynisteri, with Maratheftiko and Ofthalmo present to a lesser extent.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Cyprus

Sources

• National product specification (PDF) — eambrosia-ec
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-CY-A1627