Editing Metaxa

{{Short description|Spirit from Greece}}
{{other uses}}
{{use dmy dates |date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox Beverage|name=Metaxa
|logo=File:Metaxa Logo.svg
|type=[[Liquor]]
|image=Image:MEtaxa Angels.jpg
|origin=[[Greece]]
|introduced=1888
|variants=Metaxa 5 stars, Metaxa 7 stars, Metaxa 12 stars, Metaxa Grande Fine, Metaxa Angels Treasure, Metaxa Private Reserve, Metaxa AEN
|discontinued=
|related=
|website={{Official URL}}
}}
'''Metaxa''' ({{langx|el|Μεταξά}}) is a line of branded [[Greece|Greek]] [[alcoholic beverage|alcoholic drink]]s, each a flavored amber blend of [[liquor|spirits]] and [[Muscat (grape)|Muscat]] [[wine]], aged in oak barrels, and packaged in [[amphora]]-shaped bottles.<ref name=foster>{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Niki |url=https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-metaxa.htm |title=What is Metaxa? |website=Delighted Cooking |date=21 October 2023 |access-date=17 November 2023 }}</ref> Several Metaxa products have numbered “star” designations indicating, according to different sources, either the product’s age, the number of base spirits and wines used in making it, or simply the quality level (itself a reflection of the age).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Null |first=Christopher |url=https://www.drinkhacker.com/2011/07/29/review-metaxa-greek-spirit-5-stars-and-7-stars/ |title=Review: Metaxa Greek Spirit 5 Stars and 7 Stars |website=Drinkhacker |date=30 July 2011 |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dilouambaka |first=Ethel |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/a-history-of-metaxa-in-1-minute/ |title=A History of Metaxa in 1 Minute |website=Culture Trip |date=7 October 2016 |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref> Metaxa's main exported products are 5 Star, 7 Star, 12 Star, and Private Reserve. (Metaxa 3 Star is not exported.)<ref name=forbes>{{Cite web |date=6 October 2022 |last=Micallef |first=Joseph |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2022/10/06/why-you-should-discover-metaxa-greeces-incomparable-brandy/ |title=Why You Should Discover Metaxa: Greece's Incomparable 'Brandy' |website=Forbes |access-date=26 June 2023}}</ref>

Created in 1888 and labeled first as a [[cognac]] and then as a [[brandy]] until prohibited by naming regulations, the maker remained in private hands until sold in 1989 to [[Grand Metropolitan]], which in turn sold it in 2000 to [[Rémy Cointreau]].<ref name=foster/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dilouambaka |first=Ethel |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/a-history-of-metaxa-in-1-minute/ |title=A History of Metaxa in 1 Minute |website=Culture Trip |date=7 October 2016 |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Rémy Cointreau - Integrated Annual Report 2019/2020|url=https://remy-cointreau.publispeak.com/integrated-annual-report-2019-2020/article/16/|access-date=2022-02-10|website=remy-cointreau.publispeak.com|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:METAXA 12 stars.JPG|thumb|alt=|351x351px]]
The company's founder, Spyros Metaxa, was born in 1848 into a family of Greek silk merchants. Exposed during his travels to spirits and wines from around the world, he created Metaxa in 1888, when he owned a tavern.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The History of METAXA – The House of Metaxa |url=https://www.metaxa.com/house-of-metaxa/history/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=METAXA - The House of Metaxa |language=en}}</ref> The "[[Salamis Island|Salamina]] Warrior", the Metaxa emblem, is inspired by an ancient medallion that Spyros Metaxa found when building his distillery in Piraeus in 1888.<ref name=":0" /> In 1968, the distillery and the Metaxa cellars were relocated to new facilities in Athens's northern suburb of [[Kifissia]].<ref name=forbes/>

== Production ==
On [[Samos]], an island in the eastern Aegean Sea, grapes, primarily Muscat, a variety originally from Greece, are cultivated in terraces and hand-picked. Metaxa uses sweet Muscat wines sourced from the island, which are aged several years and so somewhat oxidized. The maker used to buy wine from independent [[winemaker|vintners]] but has begun making its own, from fruit grown in its own vineyards. Its base brandies come mostly (80%) from Spain and Italy, and the rest from Greece, where they are distilled from sun-dried grapes. These ingredients are aged separately and then combined in [[Limousin]] oak casks. Mediterranean botanicals are added as part of the finishing process, including [[Rosa × centifolia|May rose]], also a component of [[Chanel No. 5]] perfume. The result is aged for at least two years but in some cases decades.<ref name=forbes/>

The company's Metaxa master as of 2025, the equivalent of a master distiller or master blender, Konstantinos Kalpaxidis, is the sixth since 1888.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of METAXA |url=https://www.metaxa.com/en-gb/pages/history-of-metaxa |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=The House of Metaxa |language=en-gb}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.metaxa.com/ Official website]

{{Alcoholic beverages}}
{{Cuisine of Greece}}

[[Category:Greek distilled drinks]]
[[Category:Greek liqueurs]]
[[Category:Greek brands]]
[[Category:Greek inventions]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies established in 1888]]
[[Category:1888 establishments in Greece]]