Kolios

If there is a winery in Paphos district that has been built with respect for the tradition of the region, it is no other than the winery of Marios Kolios in the village of Statos-Ayios Fotios. Beautifully built out of local stone, this imposing winery invitingly comes into view as you drive round a wide bend on the road that leads to the Holy Monastery of Chrysorroyiatissa and the village of Panayia.

The owner of this wine-producing complex is not a widely-travelled person nor particularly experienced in winemaking or in the wine business. He will grudgingly go to town unless it is absolutely necessary. He is a typical countryside man who loves nature and the peace and quiet of his village. He has not visited many wineries nor has he been to numerous wine-cellars in foreign countries. Yet he appears to have a natural tendency towards what is traditional, clean and beautiful. This is evidenced by what he has done in his village Statos which boasts the only winery in the island which offers a complete range of services – beginning with the production of quality wine, extending to the running of a very good restaurant serving delicious food, with a beautiful, open view, and also including a retail shop where you can buy (besides wine) glasses, corkscrews, books and other interesting wine accessories.

The range of wines produced by Kolios Winery is among the best half a dozen on the market, made up of nine very interesting labels. The overall production exceeds 290000 bottles, which makes the winery the second largest among the regional wineries – not counting, of course, Olympus, Kamanterena and Ktima KEO which belong to the wine industries of ETKO, SODAP and KEO, respectively. Wines bearing the Kolios label have met with wide approval on the part of the public, considering the size of the Cyprus wine market, and there is every indication that this will continue. I take my hat off to Marios Kolios for his love for what he is doing, and also because he is striving incessantly to do even better. The ailing Cypriot countryside, in the face of impending abandonment and desolation approaching more and more menacingly, seems to be at its last gasp – and what it needs is people like Marios Kolios.