Dry gin Mataroa pink-Melissanidi-700ml

"The procedure of the production is traditional and the recipes are secret. Natural spring water from Kaimaktsalan mountain is the key ingredient along with other carefully selected raw materials."

Our Story

1922 The distiller Thanassis Nikolaidis arrived in Aridaia from Asia Minor

1924 Thanasis transferred his knowledge and art to Aridaia and established the distillery

1936 Thanasis’ son, Fotis Nikolaidis together with Pavlos Melissanidis were associated and continued the tradition

1945 Paul died, so Fotis continued on his own

1964 George Melissanidis, son of Pavlos Melissanidis, entered the distillery

1965 The four distillers of Aridea joined forces and created the Aridea distillers’ association

1980 Three of the four families left and Melissanidi family continued, George and his nephew Chrysanthos Andronikos

2002 Dimitris Melissanidis, son of George, took over the business

2015 Chrysanthos leaved the distillery

2015 Nopi Romanidou, wife of Dimitris, joined the distillery

2017 Melissanidi distillery acquired its first pot still for tsipouro distillation and distilled Tsipouro Arhontiko for the first time

Map of the Mediterranean

In the challenging years after World War II, Mataroa, a ship under the flag of New Zealand made 2 important trips across the Mediterranean Sea.

In August 1945, Mataroa travelled from Marseilles to Haifa, with 173 children on board, all Hebrew refugees saved by the OSE (OEuvre de secours aux enfants) Organization.

In December 1945, Mataroa was chartered by the director of the French Institute of Athens to board a significant number of students (most of them scholars of the French state), in order to help them flea political prosecutions: philosophers Kornelios Kastoriadis and Kostas Axelos, painter Nelly Andrikopoulou, sculptor Kostas Koulentianos, writer Mimika Kranaki, philologist Emmanuel Kriaras, architect Georges Kandilis, just to name a few, were among the list of its later famous passengers.

In 2019, Mataroa becomes the inspiration for Mataroa Mediterranean Dry Gin. The ship is transformed into a bottle and the load in not people, but 12 precious ingredients from the Mediterranean coast. As for the premium blend, it symbolizes the strength of the human spirit, the devotion to excellence and the continuity of this unique land.