RETSINA, THE GREEK TRADITIONAL WINE

The retsina is very probably the best known traditional Greek wine in the world, anyone who has been to Greece for a holiday had the chance to taste this particular aromatic wine. Usually is offered in two versions, white and pink.

In both versions, you can appreciate the scent but even more the taste and the characteristic resin aftertaste. In fact, which added to the wine during its fermentation phase gives that unmistakable and appreciated aroma, to produce retsina a pine resin is used (originally Aleppo pine trees were used).

Greek retsina is a Greek product of other times, a wine that in ancient times was appreciated and widely consumed by the Greeks as well as by those who passed through Greece for trade or tourism. In recent times, after spending a period of reduced consumption, retsina has once again become one of the most sought after wines thanks to the flourishing of new production companies that have renewed its image and have proposed new recipes and new ways to consume it.

Today is a white wine that can be pleasantly enjoyed cold during the hot summer months, ideally by the sea with some tasty meze to accompany it. In short, one of the unmistakable experiences of the Greek summer.

RETSINA, GREEK WINE BORN FOR NECESSITY

The retsina has an uncertain origin from a temporal point of view, it is said that the ancient Greeks already drank an aromatic wine that maybe led to the modern retsina. But the retsina was actually born for a specific need.

The pine resin was in fact considered an excellent natural insulator against the oxidizing action of the air, able to be shaped and adapted to any surface, managing to seal even the most irregular and porous materials. In a period in which there were not yet valid alternatives to hermetically seal the wine in order to preserve it, the pine resin was widely used to close the wooden barrels in which the wine was stored.

Thanks to this procedure, the more the wine aged the more the pine resin released its scent, the aromas and the flavour in the wine stored inside the wooden barrels. The result was therefore a particular wine, full of aromas and scents deriving from a bouquet never seen before. Soon, the Greek wine producers realized the commercial potential of this new product and began to produce retsina by artificially adding pine resin to the wine, each according to its own recipe.

Greek retsina quickly became the most popular wine in traditional Athenian taverns, so much so that it was combined with any traditional Greek meal. In its white or rosé version, there was no tavern in Athens that did not have the retsina in the catalogue.

Today, retsina is produced all over Greece and can count on numerous commercial brands that are gradually rediscovering its potential thanks to new proposals and recipes. Thanks to the productive boom of the sixties, the period in which the greatest number of commercial brands of Greek retsina were born, tourists and foreigners also adopted it as the ideal wine to accompany a typical Greek lunch or dinner.

Greek Flavours ships all over the world the traditional Greek retsina brands, using a courier shipping service. You can choose from among the brands on our site your favourite and receive the Greek retsina comfortably at your place.

By visiting the Greek Flavours website you can discover all the best brands of retsina on the market. The products are those that are traditionally consumed in Greece. You will thus be able to discover new products, all at competitive and reasonable prices.

Certainly the best known brands, in Greece and abroad, are Malamatina and Kourtaki. Two great classics that for decades have refreshed the throat of vacationers from all over the world.

But there are also other brands perhaps less known but certainly no less good. Tetramythos for example is an organic wine with a fairly strong body. Or the Kechribari, unmistakable thanks to its characteristic ampoule shape.

Each product has its own story, every palate wants its taste!