The enduring appeal of Retsina – a traditional Greek drink

Like ouzo and caviar, you seem to either love retsina or loathe it. This traditional Greek drink has been around for at least 2000 years and is still thriving in Greece today even though it may not suit everyone’s palate.

The pine resin flavour of this Greek white resonated wine is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels. Before impermeable glass bottles were invented, oxygen caused wine to spoil.

The pine resin helped keep the oxygen out but as a consequence caused the wine to be infused with a resin aroma. The pine “nose” was tolerable and even likeable to many wine drinkers of bygone civilisations, particularly the Romans.

Of course modern day stainless steel vessels and indeed ordinary barrel manufacturing improvements have rendered pine resin sealed pine barrels obsolete. Though many wine lovers in Greece still like retsina and pine resin is added to the wine to replicate the taste of the past.

If there is one thing Greece does have in abundance its pine trees, which hang to and dominate the landscapes of mainland Greece and the islands. The Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote about the addition of pine resin to wine as being a “must”, noting that the pine resin from mountainous areas in Greece had a much more agreeable aroma than resin from lowland pine.

Retsina is produced in large quantities on the island of Rhodes where a grape called ‘Athiri’ is grown. Athiri is a one of the most common varieties of grape used to make retsina.

Aleppo pine resin is added to the mix which ultimately flavours the wine. Modern techniques are used today to make Retsina and this thoroughly distinct tasting wine is produced using the same methods as the rose or white wine is made all over Europe.

Retsina is not to everybody’s gustatory perception and many writers down the years have spoken about its strong and disagreeable taste. Although the fact that retsina is still being made in vast quantities today is proof that its popularity still exists. The only way that you can give Retsina an opinion is to try some for yourself.

We have to admit that being sat in a Greek taverna watching the sun set behind the horizon and the musky fragrance of the nearby pine forest wafting through the warm summer evening breeze sipping retsina would be a memorable way to enjoy authentic Greek culture.