Retsina wine how?

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remlap73

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Hi I have had a search with no joy, I am a great lover of Greece and my favorate tipple is Retsina, would anyone out there know how to make a Retsina flavor wine? The story goes that Retsina got its flavor from the Pine barrels it was strored in, and Pine resin then flavored the wine. Short of putting Pine sawdust in there, from untreeted pine, any one have any sugestions? Or do I just stick to buying shop bought? I am new to this so please be gentle.
 
Not really sure but you could try making a wow and then getting some pine sap from ebay ( :twisted: It seems to used a lot for Exorsism's :twisted: ) then either popping some in and leaving it to mature or maybe Put some in boiling water like a teabag then using this infused water to make the wow :cheers:
But i could be totally wrong :whistle:
 
Well I never! Exorsism's that is disturbing! The question I have to ask, Have you come across this before If so what was you looking for! Or did you search for this to answer this question? :lol: :cheers:

Either way thanks for answering. :evil:

I have just put on 5 gallon of WOW so may be worth an experiment.
 
I just did a bit of searching to gets sum ideas and it sounds like a basic white or rose with the infused sap so just a guess about boiling it to get sum of the flavor ..may or may not work.. it seems u can tap the trees for sap too. or maybe use pinecones :wha:
 
There is a pine tree specific to Turkey that the turks make pine tea with in winter, wonder if thats where the greeks got the idea from.
I may get some this winter and give it a try. The pine is steeped in hot water and sugar added then drunk just like turkish tea is in those tiny glasses.
So maybe get a couple of kg's dissolve 1.5kg sugar and bung in the pine needles until cool then add rest of the stuff.
 
I wish I would have known when I was Ovacik in August. Will be back there next summer.
 
Ill find out where they get the pine from as i know its not just a 'normal' pine tree. Then i'll go foraging and see if it freezes too. :cheers:

Spoke to my turkish buddy over the weekend and he informs me theres tons of this stuff around so no probs getting hold of it. Think i'll do a trial batch of 5 ltrs, must admit though the last visa trip i went on i actually saw some in a greek supermarket.
I tried a trial batch of 'vine leaf' wine a while back but it turned out - :sick:

But i also found out from a new guy whos moved in near us he has 3 walnut trees in his garden so those are gonna get tapped next march for sap! :clap:
 
FYI:
There is no substitute for Aleppo Pine Resin!
You really can't make a retsina using pine cones or pine needles. The Greeks know what they are doing and have been at this for Avery long time.
 
Have some greek pine resin I collected, but it's over 15 years old, always handy to collect some next time youre there, you never know when you need to do an Exorsism. :twisted:

Thassos is heavily forested.

edit: Dragons blood is no good for it, the processed resin you use on stringed instruments.

oh and put it in a sealed container as plant material customs are fussy about.
 
I have been expirimenting with makimg retsina for a few months now. Add 1 teaspoon of a good quality Aleppo Pine Resin from Greece to a screw cap bottle of decent quality Sauvignon Blanc or unoaked Chardonnay, let it sit for 30 days in a cool environment, then filter the resin out. You can use a fine wine filter or even a paper coffee filter set in a strainer.
It will have a much greater pine flavour and aroma than commercial retsina, but the taste will grow on you!!
 
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