A few years ago, a friend of mine returned from visiting her family in Greece. Knowing that I loved to try new wines, she brought me a bottle that she said was her parents’ favorite. She told me it was called retsina.

It was a white wine and I was anxious to try it. After letting it chill, I opened the bottle and gave it a sniff. It had a pleasant aroma of crushed pine needles. I then poured a small amount in a glass, swirled it, sniffed again, and took a generous quaff. My taste buds reacted violently. It was horrible. I rushed to the sink and spit it out.

My first thought was that the wine had gone bad, but as I thought more about it, I realized it did not taste like vinegar (which would indicate that it had spoiled). Instead, it tasted like paint remover.

The label was in Greek, so I couldn’t read it. I called a friend who is a wine expert and said, “I’ve been given a bottle of retsina wine from Greece.” He immediately replied, “Tastes like turpentine, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” I said. “Has it gone bad?”

He laughed. “No, it’s supposed to taste that way,” he replied. “It’s flavored with pine pitch.”

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