Commandaria is an amber-colored dessert wine made from the indigenous Mavro and Xynistery varieties of red grapes in the Commandaria region of Cyprus (centered near the city of Kolossi). It is an origin-controlled unfortified sweet wine with a natural alcohol content of 15%. It is usually aged in oak casks for several years, but does not need or benefit from additional aging once bottled. Dessert wines are those wines which are typically served with dessert, although they are also drunk on their own, i. ... Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis tiliifolia Vitis... Whiskey barrels at the Jack Daniels distillery Barrels for aging wine in Napa Valley An aging barrel is a barrel used to age wine or distilled spirits such as whiskey, brandy, or rum. ...

The wine has a rich history, said to date back to the time of the ancient Greeks, where it was a popular drink at festivals celebrating the goddess Aphrodite. In the 12th century (during the crusades), Richard the Lionheart is said to have enjoyed it greatly at his wedding in Cyprus and to have pronounced it "the wine of kings and the king of wines." Near the end of the century he sold the island to the Knights Templar, who then sold it to Guy de Lusignan, but kept a large estate—the Gran Commandarie—to themselves. This area under the control of the Knights Templar (and subsequently the Knights Hospitaller) became known as Commandaria. When the knights began producing large quantities of the wine in this region for export to Europe's royal courts, it became known as Commandaria. Thus it has the distinction of being the world's oldest named wine still in production. Aphrodite (Αφροδίτη, risen from sea-foam) is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... This article is about historical Crusades . ... Richard I of England, as a bronze, brandishes his sword outside the Palace of Westminster Richard I (September 8, 1157 - April 6, 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... The Seal of the Knights — the two riders have been interpreted as a sign of poverty or the duality of monk/soldier. ... Guy of Lusignan (died 1194) was a French knight who became king of Jerusalem and led the Kingdom to disaster at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. ... The Knights Hospitaller (the or Knights of Malta or Knights of Rhodes) is a tradition which began as a Benedictine nursing Order founded in the 11th century based in the Holy Land, but soon became a militant Christian Chivalric Order under its own charter, and was charged with the care...