Retsina
“How can your favourite wine be Retsina?”, I asked Ken. After all, no wine buff would ever take Retsina seriously.
“Could it simply be a case of your contrarian personality?”, I continued. “Not entirely”, he insisted. He claimed that he loved the idea of drinking a wine that was drunk by the ancients, at least 2,000 years ago. For Ken, everything must be a deep cultural experience.
So today, we headed off to Paris’ Latin Quarter for a Greek lunch, blessed with a bottle of Retsina. The wine was good, though not great. We both prefer a very strongly flavoured Retsina. Maybe this wine had been toned down to suit the “subtle” tastes of our French friends.
But overall, a wonderful lunch. I took moussaka and Ken a meat kebab. And of course lots of contrarian chatter.
In case you didn’t know, Retsina is a Greek white (or rosé) resinated wine, which has been made for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo pine resin in ancient times.
Before the invention of impermeable glass bottles, oxygen caused many wines to spoil within the year. Pine resin helped keep air out, while infusing the wine with resin aroma. The Romans began to use barrels in the 3rd century AD, removing any oenological necessity for resin, but the flavor itself was so popular that the style is still widespread today.
After lunch, we went for a long walk through the Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain-des-Prés — it was a wine walk after all. And then we had coffee at La Palette, a wonderful arty cafe in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
La Palette was originally a gathering place for students of the nearby Fine Arts National Higher School. Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were among the regular patrons. La Palette’s front window and back room were listed as a Historical Monument on May 23.
In Paul Auster’s novel Invisible (2009), the main character went to La Palette several times. The café’s bar room served as a filming location for Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again” music video (2012).
Fortunately, La Palette is a little bit away from the touristy part of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Thus it has been able to retain an authentic feel and atmosphere.
In sum, an unconventional wine walk, but a great one nevertheless.