Ancient Wine · Retsina
Retsina (Ρετσίνα)
Photo: Nsaa / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5
Retsina's pine-resin flavor started as an accident — ancient Greeks sealed wine amphorae with pine resin to keep air out during transport, and the flavor it left behind became so beloved it was intentionally added ever after.
Retsina is white wine made mainly from the Savvatiano grape and infused with Aleppo pine resin during fermentation, giving it a distinctive piney, slightly resinous aroma alongside citrus and herb notes. It's served well-chilled, traditionally alongside meze.
Why it's made this way: The Mesogeia plain of Attica, just outside Athens, has long grown Savvatiano grapes for retsina and is the wine's historic heartland — the area where Athens' airport now stands was once vineyard country.
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