Botrys neboli esej o záludnostech historikovy práce (rozprava o metodě)
Botrys or an Essay on the Trickiness of the Historian’s Work (Discourse on the Method)

Author(s): Libor Vykoupil
Subject(s): Cultural history, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: history of gastronomy; Greek viticulture; raisins; brandy; Botrys;
Summary/Abstract: The elder and more experienced certainly know or at least have a vague idea that there used to be a Greek brandy named Botrys containing 40 % of alcohol. Its name was probably derived from the name of Botrytis cinerea (botrytis bunch rot, more commonly). The Greek term is Βότρυς and its transcription into Latin alphabet is Votrus or Votris. However, if a scholar attempts to verify in such an elementary finding, they can get entangled in very complex and tricky historical facts. After weeks of hard work it turned out that it is probably easier to write a chapter on the history of Greek economy of the second half of 19th century than a few lines on a distillery producing a brandy called Botrys. And so this contribution somehow by the way describes a solution to the „raisin problem“ in order to conclude with some basic information on the label Botrys.

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