Labels of Taste

31 LABELS OF TASTE Zivania PGI This traditional distillate, produced from the solid residue of grapes that were pressed during the winemaking process, is considered to be the wine ambassador of Cyprus. For the production of Zivania the Cypriot varieties Mavro and Xynisteri are mainly used. Alcohol has been well known for its therapeutic properties for many years. Although the first clear evidence of distillation is placed in the Alexandrian period, it was perfected after the 12th century. In Cyprus distillation was brought by the Venetian alchemists. Cypriot farmers developed their own technique to take the distillate from the residuals of winemaking (zivana), which they used as a drink or medicine. They called it “Zivania”. The evidence of the continuous production of this popular spirit drink during the Ottoman and Brit- ish occupation of the island come from various writers who visited Cyprus, such as British Samuel Baker in 1879. Ouzo PGI Cyprus, upon joining the European Union, was given the right to use the name “Ouzo”, which was already an established EU Geographical Indication for Greece. It is the basic and most representative spirit drink in the category “distilled anis” and derives from the blending of alcohols which have been aromatized with aniseed and possibly fennel, masticha from the indigenous mastic tree of the Greek island of Chios (Pistacia Lentisus Chia or Latifolia) and other aromatic seeds, plants and fruits. The production technique and the essential characteristics of Ouzo are the same in both countries. However, each distillery uses a mixture of aromatic seeds, plants or fruits, whose exact qualitative and quantitative composition gives the specific character of each particular product. Numerous historical testimonies document that the production of Ouzo has been widespread in Greece for centuries. As for the origin of his name, there are various interpretations, the most prevalent of which is given by Achilleas Tzartzanos, a prominent philologist and linguist (1873-1946): during the late Ottoman rule in Greece a draper from the village of Tyrnavos tasted the distillate that resulted from an improved recipe for a popular spirit drink (a variation of raki) and exclaimed that that drink was “ouzo Massalias “. He meant that it was of superior quality, like the fine silkworm cocoons that were exported from Tyrnavos to Europe in the 19th century; in order to distinguish the product, outgoing crates would be stamped with the words “uso Massalia” (Italian for “to be used in Marseilles”). TWO PARTICULARLY POPULAR SPIRITS IN CYPRUS ARE INCLUDED IN THE E-SPIRIT-DRINKS DATABASE FOR SPIRITS WITH A GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION.