Zivania: The Village Spirit of Cyprus
Almost every wine region has a spirit made from what is left after pressing. In Cyprus it is zivania, and it sits close enough to the centre of village hospitality that you are likely to be offered a glass whether or not you asked for one.
What it is
Zivania is a clear spirit distilled from grape pomace — the skins, pips and stalks left after pressing — combined with dry wine made from the island's two main indigenous grapes, Mavro and Xynisteri.
It is colourless, carries a faint aroma of raisins and contains no sugar. Bottlings are typically around 45% alcohol, and Cypriot law caps it at 60%.
How it is made
Distillation happens in a kazani, the traditional copper still, and historically took place in the villages themselves after the harvest — a use for material that would otherwise have been waste.
Different fractions of the distillate are separated during the run, and that is where the gap between a rough village zivania and a carefully made commercial one comes from.
Protected since 2004
Zivania has been protected in the European Union as a product of Cyprus since 2004, which means a spirit made the same way elsewhere cannot be sold under the name.
The protection matters in the same way Commandaria's does: it ties a category to the island rather than to a technique that anyone anywhere could copy.
How it is drunk
Traditionally it is served cold and neat in small glasses, with something to eat alongside — nuts, dried fruit, a piece of cheese. It is less a sipping spirit in the brandy sense than a punctuation mark in a long meal.
Some producers age zivania in wood, which softens it considerably and turns it into something you would sit with. If the clear village version is all you have tried, an aged one is a different drink.
More guides
The Krasochoria: Limassol's Wine Villages
The dense cluster of wine villages on the southern Troodos slopes holds more wineries than anywhere else in Cyprus. Here's how the region fits together.
Wine stylesCommandaria: The World's Oldest Named Wine
Still made in fourteen designated villages from sun-dried Mavro and Xynisteri, Commandaria has a documented history stretching back to the Crusades.
GrapesThe Indigenous Grapes of Cyprus
Xynisteri, Mavro, Maratheftiko and a handful of rare varieties being brought back from near-extinction — a guide to what actually grows on the island.