tsipouro

on saturday we drove a bit out of the city to a tsipouro distilling party that chris's uncle and aunt have every year.  tsipouro is a spirit (40p) that is like a cross between ouzo and sake.  it's very strong and most people add water to it, which makes it turn cloudy - like pastis - because of the anis.  they make it from a variety of different ingredients - you can basically put whatever you want in it - but the base is whatever is leftover from making wine... skins, juice, seeds etc that has been left to ferment.  it was done at the still/vineyards of a friend of theirs and there was a big bar-b-que with tons of food and people and lots of fresh tsipouro.  

a view of the vineyards 

some of the ingredients for the tsipouro - chris's aunt's secret recipe which even her husband doesn't know :)

the two men who were doing the really hard work - adding the remains from the wine making into the still.

lia, joji & ado on our walk through the vineyards looking for grapes that had been left on the vine when they were harvesting -- they were delicious -- merlot, cabernet, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc.

an early olive - most are still green and are picked in november and december

our 'souvenirs' - i get one whole bottle for myself :)