[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1608721298096{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1608721536428{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column_inner el_class=”desktop-padding-col” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″ column_responsive_padding_1440=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1366=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1280=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1024=”0 8%”][vc_custom_heading text=”The history of retsina” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%23849794″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622103750311{margin-top: -7px !important;}”]Retsina has a tradition that goes back 3500 years, and like many other things we enjoy today, it is a product that was discovered by chance. In ancient Greece, when wine was vinified and stored in large clay pots known as amphorae, the oxygen easily passed through the porous surface, thus resulting in oxidation. In order to protect the wine, one solution was to cover the mouth and inside of the pot with resin from the pine trees neighbouring on the vineyards.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
However, the contact between the resin and the fermenting must, added some of the pine’s freshness to the wine, thus creating a character that soon became very popular. So a new category of wines was born, resinous wines, which\u2014beyond the borders of Greece\u2014were also found in many other areas in the Mediterranean during antiquity. In the Po Valley in northern Italy, or on the shores of southern France, there are accounts of the production of resinous wine, which was often more expensive, as it was considered to be a more select wine than the others.<\/p>\n
There are also many references to this unique category of wines. In his treatise On Odours, Theophrastus expresses his ‘weakness’ for retsina, stating how compatible this union of two agricultural products, resin and grapes, is. He then goes on to underline that the best resin comes from the Pinus Halepensis (the Aleppo Pine), while Pliny provides a detailed description of the manner in which resinous wine is produced.<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-6″][vc_single_image image=”6014″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”background-contain-left”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1608721536428{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-6″][vc_single_image image=”6016″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”desktop-padding-col” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″ column_responsive_padding_1440=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1366=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1280=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1024=”0 8%”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622108749056{margin-top: -7px !important;}”]However, as time passed, the production of retsina became limited to Central Greece, where it continued\u2014until modern times\u2014to be the main type of wine in the region around Attica. From there, retsina spread once again to Macedonia and the Aegean islands. The bottling of retsina for the first time in the 1950s gave a new boost to its production, while the subsequent growth in tourism in the Athens region in the following decade made retsina known throughout the world.During the same period, British historian Rex Warner wrote in his book titled Views of Attica and its surroundings that \u201cthe resin which gives its name and its peculiar taste to the wine seems to me not only a preservative, but to infuse something of the sharpness and brilliance of the bright air around the mountain pine woods\u201d. Outside Greece, retsina has already become synonymous to Greek wine.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It was during this period that the first efforts were made to protect this traditional Greek product. Initially through transnational agreements and subsequently in the framework of the European Community, but mainly due to the great efforts by the ‘iron lady’ of Greek wine, Stavroula Kourakou-Dragona, retsina was recognised as a unique Greek product and was protected as a Traditional Appellation wine.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Unfortunately, retsina had already lost its radiance. Bad vinification practices in which resin was used to cover defects in low-quality wines caused the entire category of this traditional wine to gain a bad reputation. The production of retsina dropped continuously, while consumption was directed towards the “new” wines from international varieties and from the small estates and wineries that started to appear after the 1970s. People started to turn their backs on our traditional wine, while most producers tried to rid themselves of the “stigma” of retsina. Few stayed true to retsina, and even fewer believed in the qualitative revival of retsina, which did not take long to come.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1608721298096{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1608721536428{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column_inner el_class=”desktop-padding-col” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″ column_responsive_padding_1440=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1366=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1280=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1024=”0 8%”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Universal Aspect of Retsina ” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%23849794″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622108830130{margin-top: -7px !important;}”]Exports of KECHRIS wines grow steadily every year as more and more wine lovers and professionals from around the world discover the modern, high-quality expression of traditional Greek wine.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]These new friends of retsina include selected wine professionals of international standing, who visit Greece as guests of KECHRIS winery, in order to experience retsina in the place where it has been produced since thousands of years. Masters of Wine, Masters Sommelier and many important journalists and wine writers from the USA, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany etc. get ac- quainted with the production process, but also the enjoyment of the most famous Greek wine. After their visit, they are converted into new ambassadors for retsina and for Greek wine overall.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]By sharing the retsina experience with new people from all around the globe, it has become clear that retsina is not the acquired taste that was believed until recently to be. It is a special category of wine that offers, not only a unique experience, but also quality of world-class standards.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-6″][vc_single_image image=”6018″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1608721536428{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-6″][vc_single_image image=”6020″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”desktop-padding-col” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″ column_responsive_padding_1440=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1366=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1280=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1024=”0 8%”][vc_custom_heading text=”Retsina, a protected type of wine” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%23849794″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622108936240{margin-top: -7px !important;}”]Retsina is a type of wine that is protected under Greek and European legislation as an \u201cAppellation by Tradition\u201d. This classification is intended for wines produced by using the traditional methods of a specific region or country.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The retsina denomination is used exclusively for Greek dry wines, white or ros\u00e9, produced with the traditional method of adding pine resin to the must. In fact, the law defines the limits within which resin quantities must be kept, the method with which it is added to the must, as well as the type of resin, which must derive exclusively from the Pinus Halepensis pine, commonly known as the Aleppo pine.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”6vh”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”background-contain-right”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1608721536428{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle” row_content_width=”grid”][vc_column_inner el_class=”desktop-padding-col zIndex-front” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″ column_responsive_padding_1440=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1366=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1280=”0 8%” column_responsive_padding_1024=”0 8%”][vc_custom_heading text=”Resin, a unique natural product” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%23849794″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1622108984413{margin-top: -7px !important;}”]Dedicated to Dionysus, just like the vine, the pine tree offers the second of the two basic ingredients involved in the production of retsina. The resin, the healing sap of the pine, is the element that gives to the wine its particular aromatic character.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Its collection is made from March until November by licensed resin producers. Because it is a natural product, resin’s quality depends on many factors, such as the weather conditions, the altitude, the soil and the method of collection.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The resin that we use in KECHRIS is collected at the same time with the grapes, in order to be as fresh and as aromatic as possible.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”zIndex-back” offset=”vc_col-lg-6″][vc_single_image image=”6022″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”8vh”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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