Great Retsina, an Oxymoron No More

Let me fully second Asimov’s astute observation about the pairing of the Souvla lamb salad and Retsina pairing in San Francisco. I lived there for a couple of years, and that pairing with French fries was always divine.

Oxymoron I think is a new good wine term. While reading this article I thought that perhaps Retsina would be a good wine to go with Chinese food. When people have asked me what is a good wine to go with spicy Chinese food I usually say beer. Placing a good wine next to good Chinese food is an oxymoronic relationship. Yet Retsina might work.

Greeks no longer drink much retsina. There are too many great whites to choose from combined with retsina having a lower class connotation. But there are certain times, like Easter or sitting in a taverna by the water, that brings out the longing for retsina. Sort of like for ouzo. I guess there will always be a need for it, if nothing else for old times sake.

i cannot wait to try these retsinas.... i'm considered a little crazy among my wine loving friends for being a retsina loving wine drinker. if i love the so-so stuff available here, i know i'm going to like the ones made with love.

I went to Santorini, Mikonos and Athens in beginning of 2000s. Best vacation ever. LOVED the retsina. I love the flavor of the resin. So happy to read this article.

I had retsina many times in Crete (Sitia, Vai, Itanos). It was mostly at my friend's family farm or their friends' vineyards. There were no brand names and it was not made for sale. The strong smell of the retsina's pine verging on turpentine scent is one of the lingering memory of that trip twenty-five years ago. It is a pleasant and happy aroma.

No mention of red retsina, which is a comparative rarity but IMO has a place in this discussion. It has been ages since I've tasted one, but if anyone has a recommendation ...

I like a good retsina. The first occasion was in Cambridge England where I was a grad student at the university. I had 2 glasses with a plate of cold prawns and goose pate, baguette. Lovely lunch! Glad to hear the quality is improving as it goes so well with Greek food.

Being Greek, Retsina was always a part of my memory exactly as the article suggested: a “taverna” wine, mixed with Sprite or Coca Cola, favored by students and traditional families. But its low quality was always known to everyone, it was no secret that Retsina stayed at the bottom of wine-making. However, as most baby boomers and golden era generation Greeks will tell you, when you did find a tavern that served its own local version (usually fermented in small barrels in their cellars), it had nothing to do with the commercialized versions. And it was the-sole-reason for them to revisit the same tavern again and again. So nowadays, I am very happy to see that winemakers in Greece embraced Retsina not only as a marketing tool to gain more sales, but to actually try to respect tradition and uplift its quality to international standards. I highly recommend you try my favorite Retsina, called The Tear of the Pine. Its subtle infusion of resin adds the necessary touch of minerality, without making the wine lose its nerve or fruity character — a true delight when accompanied with traditional Mediterranean food. I maybe Greek, but I favor New Zealand’s stellar Sauvignon Blancs — however, this article made my day, seeing there is a rise in the appreciation of the wonderful experiences a Greek wine can offer, apart from the famous Asyrtiko or Xinomavro.

I’ve enjoyed the Ritinitis Nobilis several times since Eric recommended it a couple years ago (especially with hummus; especially *not* with stuffed grape leaves). I’d buy it more often but the NV is frustrating. I always wonder if the bottle is, or soon will be, past prime. One retsina I didn’t much care for was the Kourtakis. I read where someone described it as Pine-Sol-like and on tasting, I couldn’t shake that impression. It did do pretty well, though, with Melissa Clark’s Middle Eastern Herb and Garlic Chicken tinyurl.com/y7fouf9t , especially in how it cut through the yogurt sumac dressing. Pine-Sol-like indeed! Another, softer retsina that I did enjoy is the Kechribari, a wine that seems to be available only, or almost only, in Greek restaurants. It was wonderful with a lemon, potato, garlic skordalia. Which might not be a fair test. The skordalia was pretty wonderful by itself. But the pairing was equally good, although quite different, with added black olives. It was poor with added raw tomato.

I love retsina. I don't know whether I first had it at a Greek restaurant or at the annual local Greek Food Fest, but I was hooked from my first sip. The varieties normally on sale here are on the cheap side, but I don't find that the resin taste is too overpowering. I'll look for these varieties mentioned here and give them a try.

I first met retsina in a Washington DC restaurant and simply put it was lovely. It's something we are used to in a very peculiar way here in Italy when it comes to wine: quality is much more related to the single winemaker than to cultivar or wine name so Chianti or Barbaresco, Sangiovese or Nebbiolo, Sauvignon or Pinot (let alone the many peculiar ancient local cultivars) don't really mean that much if you cannot name the wine producer and even the wineyard in some cases.

While traveling on the island of Kos many years ago, I saw a large Mercedes dump truck turn off and it had a load of white grapes in the back. The truck kept on going to the winery receiving area in the back and I turned into the area where they had large wooden tanks called tuns to store their wine. I later got into the wine business by being the NSM and NMM for Sterling Vineyards - formerly a very good Napa Valley Winery. Well these older gentlemen greeted me and motioned me over where they took a large metal tasting cup and poured some wine out of their tun and handed it to me. Well since they did not have the best or cleanest process, they used turpentine to stabilize their wine. Having painted houses, I knew turpentine - we mixed it with white lead to make our paint. It smells rather nice but the taste is something else. The men around me smiled as they saw me sample this wine. Turpentine is not an acquired taste - but with the men watching I forced it down - all of it. Later on Mykonos, I found that Roditis/Rhodes Wine was excellent. In the wine business, we say if it ain't red it ain't wine. Enjoy wine!