Lesvos ouzo

If wine, a product of the magical fermentation of grape juice, is the gift of Dionysus to humanity, the Ouzo is a result of the culture of poverty and ingenuity of ordinary people. Thanks to the concern of the people to utilize the remnants of the production of wine, but also the constant effort of the most enlightened of them to deal with alchemy, the distillation was created, and from there the discovery of ouzo, the favorite drink of the Greeks.

Its modern history rakis The era of Ottoman rule begins, and this is because the Prophet Muhammad did not intend to ban it along with wine and spirits. Starting from Mount Athos, raki conquers the entire Ottoman Empire, with the most important distillation centers being Constantinople, Izmir, Alexandria, Tyrnavos, Mytilene and Crete.

The Ouzo Unlike raki produced by distillate distillation, it is produced from ethyl alcohol, which has been further enriched with aromatic substances, such as anise, mastic and various herbs that give the distillate a more delicate, aromatic and refined dimension.

The name "ouzo" also has this history as narrated by Army Panagos, in his excellent book "Northeast of Taste".

"So around 1870 they sent some ounces of tsipouro to Marseilles, some soaps, oils, etc. These were in transit through Genoa. So the Genoese customs officer writes on the barrels: "Uso in Marsilla", That is, it was for consumption in Marseille. The Marseilles merchant who received them realized that they had sent him a drink Use to Marseille! The next order read five hundred ounces of Uso for Marseille. "

Greece was happy to secure in the European Union the Ouzo (EEC Regulation 1576/89) as a product produced exclusively in Greece and Cyprus, and Mytilene and Plomari separately, they also secured the designation PGI products (geographical indication products).

Ouzo bottled nowadays are made all over Greece. But the champion in quantity, quality and reputation is Lesvos ouzo, where 17 distilleries produce excellent ouza, covering 50% of Greek production.

Of the first 5 branded ouzas in sales in Greece and abroad, 3 come from Lesvos: «Ouzo Plomariou Isidorou Arvanitou","Ouzo MINI Mytilene","Ouzo Varvagianni","Ouzo 12","Ouzo Tsantali».

The distilleries of Lesvos are the folowing:

• Isidoros Arvanitis Plomari
• Ioannis Varvagiannis
• Pitsiladis
• Giannatsis
• Saddler
• Spentzas G & Co. OE
• Matisse
• EPO
• EVA SA
• Bouchlis (Leva - Smyrna)
• Fish chicken
• Matarelli and Co.
• Saturn
• Linou E. & Co. OE
• Ourania Kouroumichali-Papadelli