Retsina

I just tried my first sip of the Greek wine Retsina, which is considered by some to be the "quintessential Mediterranean wine," while others describe it as being "sappy and turpentine like." I purchased the bottle back at the beginning of last summer, after I'd read a story in which two of the characters were sharing a bottle of Retsina on the patio of a restaurant somewhere in the Greek isles.

The young man who helped me find the bottle on the shelves of The Party Source said he thought it tasted like floor polish. With that thought in mind, the bottle has languished in my meager wine rack, unopened, for months. I only opened it tonight because I didn't stop at the grocery on my way home; I didn't realize I was otherwise out of wine.

Well, the salesman did it an injustice. I think it's quite delicious. I can detect the resinous flavor, but it's not overwhelming; otherwise it's full flavored and not very sweet, though I can't really describe it as dry, either.

From about.com on Retsina:

Retsina was born of the need to preserve and ship wines in pine-pitch sealed vessels. Ancient wines varied substantially in quality and tended to spoil. In efforts to avoid this, wines were often adulterated with exotic ingredients, from herbs to sea water. Due to the pine oils, Retsina was thought of as wood nymph tears, though how it was collected from those shy nymphs is not recorded.

I'll be serving this the next time I make a Greek meal.