For generations, it has been customary in the villages to make your own house wine if you have the opportunity. This is also true of the Ktistakis family. Thanasis' father, Georgios Ktistakis, was a "varelas" by trade. He repaired wooden barrels and, in the late 1960s, travelled from village to village during some months to repair barrels for people who could not come to Kamilari. Sometimes his son Thanasis accompanied him on these trips around the area.
In memory of his childhood days, Thanasis decided in 2002 to cultivate the family fields again and plant new vines. For this he used Syrah and Cabernet vines, which are very similar to the local Kotsifali variety and for which the existing soil is ideal.
In September 2005, the first harvest was brought in with family and friends. In the following years there was also plenty of good wine, usually 70% Syrah / 30% Cabernet, a dry, dark-red organic wine. The work required to obtain a good wine should not be underestimated. Before spring, just as the season is beginning again and other work should actually take priority, the vines have to be pruned and then the field ploughed. The irrigation hoses must be checked and adjusted, and the plants are then regularly inspected and pruned to obtain the correct quantity and quality of fruit. In between, something may have to be done against snails or diseases that occur quite frequently. Depending on ripeness, which is influenced by sun, water, and soil conditions, the grapes are harvested from late August to mid-September. The grapes are processed into must on the same day, and the must then rests for a few days before fermentation really begins. The wine must then be checked daily and analyzed by the chemist at regular intervals.
Even an organic wine cannot be made entirely without chemistry. After about 2 months, the fermentation process is complete and the wine can be filled into wooden barrels to mature further. Depending on its intended use, it is then bottled accordingly.
Unfortunately, Thanasis had to pause for a few years from 2015, but we now hope that harvesting and production can resume in 2022.
The grape pomace is used to make raki, also called tsikoudia. After the wine has been pressed, the residues are placed in plastic barrels and, depending on the desired result, mixed with water and sometimes - according to personal preference - with spices. The barrels are sealed airtight and "wait" until October. Even before the wine is finished, the pomace is distilled into raki.
Raki is produced exclusively on Crete and should not be confused with Turkish aniseed schnapps, which resembles Greek ouzo.
The grape pomace is taken to a distillery - the "kasani". There, the mash is cooked and distilled in a closed copper kettle over an open wood fire. This high-proof spirit can then also be processed further into a kind of liqueur by infusing it with sugar and fruit.
These "kasania" are now rare. A special permit is required, and new permits are no longer issued.
Anyone who has such a permit today sells it or passes it on by inheritance. In addition, this raki may be produced only for personal use.
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