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Retsina is a unique Greek wine, instantly recognizable for its bold, aromatic pine and resin flavor—a taste that tends to evoke strong reactions, with many either deeply adoring it or finding it less appealing. This distinctively flavored wine has a long and storied history, stretching back over two millennia, making it one of the oldest continuously produced wines in the world.
Konstantinos Malamatinas, CEO of the historic “Malamatina” winery, which is among the most famous retsina breweries, shared vivid childhood memories of the family business—from riding delivery trucks in Alexandroupolis in the late 1950s to working the harvest in the vineyards of Evia and Boeotia.
The family’s winemaking tradition began with his ancestor Efstratios on the island of Tenedos, cultivating “Tsaousia” grapes for white wine. His son, Konstantinos, expanded the trade by sailing the wine to northern Greek ports aboard his ship “Mersini.”
In 1895, he established the family’s first winery in Alexandroupolis under the name “Tenedos,” where the production of the now-iconic retsina began.
“The first bottling of retsina by my father (ed. Evangelos), in 1957, was actually a milestone for the product, because it enabled good quality wine to reach cafes and taverns, even in the smaller villages of Greece and especially Northern Greece, which until then had been supplied with retsina in bulk from wine shops.”
According to Konstantinos Malamatinas, retsina faced a decline starting in the late 1970s, when rising competition and mishandling—especially in southern Greece—led to a loss of traditional consumers.
The situation worsened with the widespread sale of bulk retsina of questionable quality in plastic bottles, damaging the reputation of this traditional Greek product. Despite being a protected cultural product like feta, ouzo, and mastic—and made from native grape varieties such as Savvatiano and Roditis—retsina has long struggled for the recognition it deserves.
However, Malamatinas notes a promising revival in recent years, thanks to the efforts of passionate young winemakers who are refining the craft. The wine is gaining renewed appreciation abroad, bolstered by growing tourism and increased exports. If this momentum continues and domestic trust in retsina is restored, the future looks bright for Greece’s most iconic resin-infused wine.
At the dawn of the 20th century, retsina was truly the wine of the people. Tavern owners across Athens would head to Koropi, where grape presses produced must but not finished wine. They would bring it back, add their own resin, and craft their own retsina on-site. It was a local tradition, deeply rooted in everyday life.
“Retsina began its journey as the people’s wine,” says Konstantinos Malamatinas. “It was made and enjoyed in tavernas—humble, handmade, and shared.” In those days, it was often said that a working man’s modest pleasure was “two souvlaki and three retsinas,” Konstantinos Lazarakis, holder of the coveted title of Master of Wine, told AMNA.
The origins of retsina trace back to ancient Greece, where practicality gave birth to a unique flavor tradition. Initially, pine resin was used to seal clay amphorae, keeping air out and preserving the wine during transport. But the resin left its mark—literally—infusing the wine with its distinctive aroma. Over time, winemakers embraced the scent, using resin not just as a sealant but as a preservative and flavoring agent in the wine itself.
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However, as centuries passed, retsina’s signature characteristic became a double-edged sword. While resin helped slow oxidation and mask spoilage, it also became a shortcut for poor-quality winemaking. “Resin can cover faults,” explained Lazarakis.
“So lazy producers started relying on it too much—overusing it, using cheap resin, or watering down the wine entirely. That’s how retsina developed a reputation for being rough, inconsistent, and, at times, undrinkable.”
The damage to its image was made worse by the experience of many foreign tourists, who were served low-grade retsina in tavernas. Without the chance to develop an appreciation for its unique character, many visitors left Greece associating its national wine with a harsh aftertaste.
“Retsina is like Roquefort cheese or a film by Theodoros Angelopoulos,” the wine expert notes. “It demands an acquired taste—subtle at first, but rewarding with time. Unfortunately, what many people first encountered wasn’t real retsina. It was just bad wine with too much resin,” Lazarakis said.
During the interwar period, retsina was considered a drink of fashion and the aristocracy. In this twenty-year period, from 1920 to 1940, dozens of songs were written about this type of wine.
In the early 1980s, Stelios Kechris, one of Greece’s first oenologists, returned from studying in Dijon, France, with a bold vision. At a time when retsina was seen as an outdated, low-quality wine, Kechris chose to focus on it, inspired not just by sentimental ties—his family had been producing retsina since 1939—but by a deep respect for traditional products.
“In France, I saw how traditional products were valued, and I realized that retsina, like many others, could be elevated,” he explains.
He didn’t see retsina as inherently inferior. Rather, he believed that with modern winemaking techniques, high-quality grapes, and the right resin, retsina could be a true asset for Greek wine. Today, Kechris produces a range of innovative retsinas, including Kehribari (with 35 international awards), Rosa (a rosé with wild strawberry aromas), Afros (the first pet-nat retsina), and Dakry tou Pefkou (a retsina with aging potential).
Kechris describes his ongoing quest to push the boundaries of retsina, emphasizing that quality retsina starts with the belief that it’s a unique product with distinct characteristics. “Resin is a defining element,” he says, noting that its expression varies based on factors like geographical location, altitude, and even the orientation of the pine trees. The resin used in his wines is always Greek, contributing to a rich diversity of flavors in each bottle.
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