Triklino Vineyards - Corfu's Winery / An Unapologetic Look at Retsina; Corfu Magazine - Spring/Summer 2011
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An Unapologetic Look at Retsina
by Lucullus
Resinated wine has been around for some 2000 years, the idea being that using pine resin to seal the amphoras would prevent air destroying the wine.
Traditionally it is known as the wine of Attica (area around Athens), as it was the Savatiano grape grown locally that was, and is used along with large forests of pines in that area to provide the resin for this wine.
I can still recall, as a child, the pride with which local retsina, offered as bottled retsina, was a
novelty then, and an establishment prided it-
self on the 'quality' of its retsina. I can clearly remember the heady fumes and copious amounts often added to the wine to give to some (myself included) a delightful association with turpentine!
Regrettably, in the past 40 years Attica's vineyards have been reduced by more than half as a result of urbanisation and also, in no small part, of the airport's relocation.
Today the Greeks have tended to change to unresinated wines, and as a consequence retsina is more often consumed by foreigners than by locals. As for tavernas offering their own retsina from the barrel, that is now almost a thing of the past.
Today's bottled retsina is nothing like the retsina of my youth - in no small part due to EU legislation insisting on a minimum of 0,1% resin and a maximum of 1,0 % by volume, which makes it extremely lightly resinated compared to the past.
In a tasting of four widely available retsinas, the following observations were made:
Kourtaki (11%)
(Market leader by sales)
Light straw colour, moderate resin aroma. Light in body with a short finish on the palate.
Malamatina (11%)
Light gold colour. Soft resin aroma. Moderate in body with a pronounced resin on the palate and a good length finish.
Michael Giorgiadi (11%)
Yellow with tinges of amber. Disappointing bouquet reminiscent of wet flower petals. Lacking body with an understated resin flavour and a fleeting hint of licorice on the short finish.
Ketribari (11,5%)
Very pale colour. Strong resin nose. Full bodied and astringent with a definite woody finish.
These wines are still ideally served with simple Greek taverna fare, in particular the wide variety of mezithedes found across the country. Retsina is part of Greece's heritage and its future should be promoted and guarded for following generations.
