Opa! Ouzo from 23rd Street Distillery wins silver in San Francisco
A year after first experimenting with production, 23rd Street Distillery has won silver for its ouzo at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Just don’t expect to see a medal sticker on the bottle.
Most South Australians would associate Renmark’s 23rd Street Distillery with gin or whisky. But this past year, the distillery has added ouzo to its oeuvre.
The distillery is one of the Bickford’s Group’s brands, and group master blender Chris Dix said family heritage was the driver for the new product.
“The [Kotses family] are from Macedonia in Greece, so they wanted an ouzo that honoured their roots and heritage while showcasing authenticity and traditional storytelling,” Dix said.
Matthew & Jim’s Classic Ouzo won Silver at the recently announced San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The ouzo is named for the grandfathers of 23rd Street Distillery managing director Angelo Kotses. The bottle features a photo of the pair taken in Aetos Florina Greece, on the day Angelo was born, each grandfather with a glass of ouzo in hand.
Dix is pleased with the awards result, particularly as the Gold medal winner, Isidoros Arvanitis Ouzo of Plomari, had more than 115 years’ head start.
Not being a regular ouzo drinker, Dix said he began the project in January of last year with “a bit of research and a whole heap of trials” for the aniseed, citrus and tarragon blend.
“We did a lot of individual macerations and distillations and then lined them all up on the bench to get the right percentages,” he said of the blending process.
“A little bit of one and a bit of another, half a percent here and 1% there to get the right aromatic profile and the right flavours.
Each of the vintage copper stills has a capacity of around 7500 litres
Renmark has a sizable population of Greek background and Dix conducted tastings with locals “because they do love their ouzo”.
“The first one we did, we were pretty happy with it, but it was wasn’t quite sweet enough for their taste,” he said.
“So, we did a little tweak and ramped up some of our botanicals as well, to have a bit more aromatic and flavour punch.”
The first bottles rolled off the production line in May last year and the ouzo has been a hit at their visitor centre.
However, don’t expect to see a medal sticker on the bottle anytime soon.
“We try to keep the bling fairly subdued,” Dix said.
“We prefer to just recommend it or tell people about it.”
Along with the Silver medal for Matthew & Jim’s Classic Ouzo, the distillery was also awarded Gold for its Australian Single Malt Whisky, while its Signature Gin garnered a rare Double Gold, with all judges giving it gold medal status.
There is also a story behind the medal-winning whisky.
While 23rd Street Distillery has only been making whisky since 2018, its copper stills date back to the 1920s and were used to produce the iconic Hardy’s Black Bottle Brandy.
They were relocated after 23rd Street Distillery’s sister company Vok acquired the brandy and their considerable height results in the lighter, “more elegant” tasting whisky according to Dix.
As for the Signature Gin, he says its Double Gold win meant the most to the distillation team.
“It cements what they’ve have been doing for a very long time – it confirms that we’re internationally competitive.”
