Mavro: Cyprus's Workhorse Red, and a Second Chance

Mavro is the grape that made Cyprus's reputation for cheap wine, and it has been judged by that reputation ever since. The more interesting story is what happens when producers stop asking it to be something it is not.

Say it: MAH-vrohrecorded by Anastasia Konstantopoulou

The grape in brief

Mavro means "black." It is still one of the two most widely planted grapes on the island, alongside Xynisteri, in Jancis Robinson's 2026 assessment, though its share has fallen steeply. The Buyer reported in 2018 that it had gone from around 85% of red plantings two decades earlier to around 40%. Despite the name, genotyping shows it is unrelated to Bulgaria's Mavrud (Wikipedia).

Why it made forgettable wine

The grape itself explains a lot. Mavro has large, thin-skinned berries, bunches that can weigh a kilo, poor color and generous yields, according to the Jerusalem Post and Oenou Yi. That made it ideal for the volume trade: bulk wine to the Soviet Union, "Cyprus Sherry" to Britain, brandy and table grapes.

Head Oenologist Anastasia Konstantopoulou of LionSpirit Winery & Distillery thinks the grape has been measured with the wrong ruler:

I do think genuinely good Mavro can be made, but perhaps not by asking it to become the kind of red wine it was never naturally equipped to be.

Push it for color and structure, she says, and you get astringency rather than quality.

The second chance

What I find interesting now is that some producers are beginning to work with its natural character rather than trying to correct it. Old vines, higher-altitude sites, lower yields and gentler extraction can lead to a very different expression - more emphasis on fruit and freshness, and less on colour and power.

Producers taking that route include Santa Irene, which works old high-elevation vines and ferments partly in clay pithari (Jerusalem Post), and Zambartas, whose century-old Margelina vineyard is roughly 80% Mavro in a field blend (Circle of Wine Writers).

Mavro in Commandaria

Mavro is one of only two grapes allowed in Commandaria, the island's sun-dried sweet wine, alongside Xynisteri. Konstantopoulou is firm that this is no consolation prize: "I would never see its role in Commandaria as some kind of second-best future."

How to drink it

Look for a Mavro rosé or a pale, light red, and put it in the fridge for twenty minutes before you open it. Treat it the way you would a Beaujolais or a light Grenache, not a Cabernet.

Where to find a bottle

This is the hard one. wine.com carried no Cypriot Mavro on 25 September 2026, and a US search on Wine-Searcher for "Mavro" returned bottles of a different Greek grape, Mavro Kalavrytino, instead. We are not linking a search that would send you to the wrong wine. If you want Mavro today, a KEO St. John Commandaria is the easiest bottle in the US that contains it.

Read more in Cyprus wine grapes, from a head oenologist.