Beyond Retsina, or, Ix-nay on the Ine-Sol-Pay. These notes have been really slow in coming. I'd planned to crib from the e-mail that Pam sent to Jon Smith the day after the tasting, but I don't have it anymore. [Note to Pam: If you've still got a copy, can you send it along, and I'll add in your comments?]
     Anyway, thanks to Becky and Mark for hosting and providing Mediterranean-themed food, and to Pam for putting the tasting together. A certain unnamed skeptic said she'd be lucky to find more than six Greek wines in the 504 area code, but she proved me -- I mean, that skeptic -- wrong. And thanks to Jon for special-ordering some of these wines for us.
     We didn't assign numbers to these wines, because we figured that these wines would be so different from what we usually taste that a fair comparison would be impossible. So these are listed in the order in which we tasted them. See the end of this post for our consensus recommendations. Note that there's one non-Greek wine in the mix.

     "Screw." NV Domenico Kretikos, Crete. $8 suggested retail, but Jon special-ordered it. Billed as a white Greek country standard, this wine has a beery, barleyish nose with some floral and honey notes. It reminded Delia of blood oranges. Steph thought it could be from anywhere. Fairly light in body, to the point that chip dubbed it an Atkins wine.

     "Anchor." NV Protopapas Agioritikos, Mt. Athos; made from Fagoulato, Assyrtiko, Athiri, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and other grapes. $12, also a special order from Cork & Bottle. Some people thought this had a nice nose with hints of melon and honeydew but thought there was nothing to it besides the nose. Personally, I thought it smelled a bit like feta cheese, and the dull-musty nose gave way to a vague, inert apple flavor on the tongue. Mt. Athos is known less for its wine than its monasteries, and maybe they should pray for better winemaking conditions.

     "Pulley." 2002 Boutari Moschofilero, Mantinia, Pelopponesus; 100% Moschofilero. $10 at Dorignac's. This is where we started warming up to the Greek wines. The nose was slightly piney, also reminiscent of ginger ale and unripe grapefruit. It had a somewhat heavy feel on the tongue, but it wasn't bitter. charles found the finish pleasantly fizzy. Mark said he wouldn't marry this wine but would feel it up. Of all Greek producers, Boutari is probably the best-known in the U.S.

     "Railway." 2001 Lantides Chardonnay, Attica. $12 special order. Ginger behind petroleum, Steph says. One person said this white wine smelled like "old lady perfume," Charles agreed but said it dissipates quickly. Anyway, there's that funny nose again, and one has to wonder: terroir or crapoir?
     "Catapult." 2001 Boutari Nemea, Nemea, Pelopponesus. $10 at Dorignac's. An interesting wine, made from the fashionable Agiorgitiko grape (which is also known as Mavro Nemeas). Very pleasant chocolatey, creamy nose. Bright, basic, unreconstructed fruit that doesn't really evolve. Delia thought it had a burnt, flat taste.

     "Parchment." 1997 Boutari Grande Reserva Naoussa, Naoussa, Macedonia; 100% Xynomavro. $13 at Martin wine Cellar. Some allspice and nutmeg hints in the nose, but this wine is heavy on cherry. At first it almost tasted like cherry Chloraseptic. charles says it's the chewiest wine of the evening so far. Mark and Chip say it was off-putting.Xynomavro, a.k.a. Xinomavro, means "acid black," and it's the most widely planted grape variety in Greece.

     "Odometer." 1999 Chateau Musar Hochar Père et Fils, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Some unusual smells here: fruit, paper, metal, blood. Becky found it a little too cloudy, and Pam thought it had an oily smell and a post-rain worm smell. It reminded Delia of a Kunde Syrah. A pretty respectable wine overall. If you click through Chateau Musar's Web site, you can tell that they're proud of what they've achieved in adverse conditions. Who knew decent wine could come from Hezbollah's stomping ground?

     "Democracy." NV Boutari Retsina; Saviatiano grapes with pine resin. $6 to $8 at Elio's Wine Warehouse, Dorignac's and Martin Wine Cellar. Presumably a representative specimen of Greece's traditional wine. And as Pam put it, this is what turned most of the world against Greek wine. A little pine needn't be unpleasant, but this is shockingly bad. They say: "Discreet pine resins." We say: "Discreet? Are you f---ing kidding?" It tastes like Pine Sol smells. It reminded Chip of a public restroom after it's been cleaned. Boutari makes some nice wine, and let's hope they make this only because cultural traditions obligate them to.

     "Gymnasium." NV Loukatos Mavrodaphne of Pátras, Pelopponesus. $7 at Dorignac's. This sweet, fruity red is something like a Greek port. Uncomplex, prunish, fizzy. Reminiscent of Smith Brothers cough drops, in a good way.

     After some discussion, we concluded that the Boutari Moschofilero from the Pelopponesus, the Chateau Musar Hochar from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and the sweek Loukatos Mavrodaphne were the best of the bunch. The Boutari Grande Reserva Naoussa also had its fans.
     The fake names all refer to innovations attributed to the ancient Greeks. After tasting the Retsina, someone suggested that we change its fake name from "Democracy" to "Tragedy."
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 11:19 PM
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Another BYO disappears. Maybe the problem was that they opened at the wrong time, or that the font on the menu was ugly, or that they didn't offer enough specials or change the menu, or that one waiter had the charm of Moe Szyslak. But Sea Level on North Carrollton seems to have closed. Too bad. It was nice to have a place in the 'hood where I could always count on sitting down quickly.
     Of course, when you can always count on sitting down quickly, it's never a good sign.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 12:26 PM
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