Feature: Age-old traditions linked to tsipouro making remain alive in Greece

It is the time of the year when vine growers all over Greece get a chance to lay back and enjoy the fruits of their year-long hard work.

Since the harvest is usually over by late October, in the following months, all they have to do is to wait for their plants to naturally shed their leaves so that they can plan their next cultivation.

In the meantime, a very important and age-old process is taking their crop to the next stage: the production of wine and the distillation of tsipouro.

Tsipouro, the Greek equivalent to the Italian grappa, is a strong distilled spirit containing 40 percent to 45 percent alcohol and is produced from the residue of the wine press.

It comes in two types: pure and anise-flavored, and since the 14th century it has been produced in several areas of Greece, particularly Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia and Crete.

Xinhua reporters travelled to Kavala, in Northern Greece, a small region renowned for its fine quality of grapes and its long history of tsipouro making, in order to explore the local traditions linked to this process.

Around the foothills of Mount Paggaio, the tallest mountain of Kavala, stretches "a sea of vines" all the way to the northern shores of the Aegean Sea.

According to the myth, Paggaio was home of Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine and celebration, and his cult was predominant in the region for thousands of years.

In fact, in 2013 researchers of a Greek-French excavation site near Philippi brought to light evidence of winemaking in the area of Kavala since prehistoric times.

The unearthing of 6,500-year-old carbonized grape berries that had been pressed constitutes the oldest indication for vinification in Europe so far.

The region has not only a glorious past in growing vines, but also an encouraging present.

Currently the area of Kavala boasts approximately 3,500 hectares of vineyards, 800 of which are destined for tsipouro production, while the rest 2,700 produce table grapes and wine.

The microclimate of the region and the abundant water contribute to the fine quality of the grapes and the locally produced spirits that are sought after even beyond the Greek borders.

"What is interesting about wine and tsipouro is that despite the crisis they keep rising in demand ... People have turned to local, traditional products," Theodoros Tsikrikonis, a third generation winegrower and a second generation distiller, told Xinhua.

This, joined by the new generation of innovative, well-educated farmers who gradually take over the vineyards, gives every reason to hope for a bright future.

For 30-year-old Tsikrikonis, the decision to follow his father's steps was only natural, considering the long family tradition and the market success of vine by-products. But first he had to leave Kavala in order to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in Agronomy and Oenology and a Master of Science in Engineering.

His scientific knowledge combined with his family's experience led to an impressive quality upgrade of his products with two of his wine etiquettes winning first prizes in prestigious international contests.

Apart from wine, Tsikrikonis also produces vinegar and of course tsipouro. The process of its distillation is simple and remains the same for ages: dark grapes have to be passed through the crusher and be left to ferment for one to two months in special containers.

Once fermented, the mass is channeled to boil in a copper container that is placed above wood-lit fire and has a characteristic shape that minimizes the loss of vapor. The vapour produced is led through a pipe to another copper container, the "fridge," where it fluidifies into a crystal clear liquid.

The process, during which the temperature and the pressure are closely monitored, is repeated one or more times in order to attain a more refined result: the more the distillations, the stronger the spirit.

Apart from its obvious purpose, tsipouro distillation is also a call for celebration and an opportunity for the whole community to come together.

During the time needed for a double or multiple distillation, the vine growers don't miss the chance to gather their friends at the "kazani" (distillation unit in Greek), where they play traditional and folk music, sing and taste their freshly made tsipouro, of course.

Charalambos Chatzisavvas is a third-generation "kazani" owner. His distillery is open only during November and December, but for these two months he has to work around the clock in order to produce in time all the tsipouro of his clients.

However, during his long hours of work he is rarely alone, as his place is almost always filled with cheerful company.

"The producers whose tsipouro we are distilling right now are young people, they have a lot of friends that they bring here and it's like a feast!" Chatzisavvas told Xinhua. "It is a very long tradition that we like to keep alive. We enjoy it."

The place was packed with around 100 people in their late 20s who were joyfully chatting and laughing, grabbing a bite and drinking tsipouro or wine.

Makis Makris, one of them and a regular "kazani" visitor, talked to Xinhua about what a custom like this means to him.

"What you see here is an original Greek revelry," he said. "It is actually a ritual. It brings to mind the rites of Dionysian cult that took place right here in antiquity," Makris added, highlighting a tradition that combines arts, particularly music, and celebrations with the production of a spirit. Endi