The controversial case of Retsina

Retsina (Greek: Ρετσίνα) is a Greek white (or rosé) resinated wine, which has been made for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have ...‎Resinated wine · ‎Pinus halepensis · ‎Amphora 

WHERE TRADITION MEETS THE FUTURE!!!! 

 "  LONG LIVE THE RETSINA !!!!! "

Retsina is a resinated wine - not a process, but a wine.

 where controlled amount of resin is added DURING fermentation - with a long tradition that goes back some thousands of years. High demand in the 60’s affected negatively the resulting quality so the market was flooded with seas of cheap Retsinas sold in bulk. Tones of resin were added  to mask wine flaws from poor raw material and terrible handling in the cellar. This shabby quality eventually affected the image of Greek wine for many years, since there are still consumers with the perception that all Greek wines taste like cheap Retsina.

The news is that there are now excellent modern, new - age Retsinas which are well made and characterful, capturing the Greek summer in a bottle. This new generation focuses on innovation, quality and individuality with clear signs that a restless team of Greek winemakers is willing to redefine this classic style. 

There are of course serious missing links for the Retsina case to become stronger. First, a new marketing strategy is very much needed because there is no way to appreciate Retsina unless you put Retsina into context and second a new classification would be key to distinguish high quality wines from cheap, overtly resinated, ones. For the moment, great confusion exists between Traditional and PGI appellations. Numerous PGI’s exist that mention nothing about the wine’s quality. I would rather envisage a classification that distinguishes different quality types with a classification such as for example pure, traditional, authentic, and plain.

In addition, there is a cultural phenomenon that most people choose to ignore when they talk about Retsina, its association with local groups in the form of a blended drink with coca cola named Tuba Libre. I reckon that this cheap fun effect degrades Retsina as a product and needs to be considered and discussed if we want to market retsina as quality wine with a distinctive character.  

Nevertheless, the most powerful point of Retsina is its affinity with strongly flavoured, intense food like meze or tapas which has no true rival among low - alcohol unfortified wines. Muscat is too delicate, Gewürz lacks acidity and so on...All the other alternatives are local distillates like tsipouro or ouzo or mostly oxidated Sherries (not Riojas though). This is no coincidence I think. 

Few wines can reflect Greek character as genuinely as Retsina does. Producers keep for years they welcomed many tourists in their winery and their first question is whether they had any Retsina. It took them many years to proudly answer “yes”.  All over the world about Greek wine, people are excited to learn the developments and taste the new stars. Let's give them that. 

What is retsina made of?

• Savatiano: (this is the “most used” ingredient for the preparation of retsina), it is a white
• grape variety among the best in Greece;
  Assyrtiko: a grape from white grapes, typical of Santorini, an excellent ingredient used for retsina;
• Rhoditis: a beautiful grape variety of pink grapes loved in the Peloponnese;
• Athiri: vine typical of Greece and widespread well in the Aegean islands, it is a white berry variety.

• Do you know, by chance, another wine so good that it was used to give the name to an asteroid?

  2303 Retsina (Q148625)