Kechris Winery's Tear of the Pine has a medium lemon color and a nose of incredible aromatic intensity, with a light touch of resin expressed through mastic, pine, and rosemary. The Assyrtiko grape imparts a lemony character with notes of grapefruit and lime. And then the barrel comes in to elevate the whole experience. Vanilla, toast, smoke, and hazelnut completely change everything you knew about retsina. On the palate, it has a medium (+) body, high acidity, and excellent balance. The resin simply flatters the whole and adds complexity without standing out at all. The barrel is beautifully integrated into the whole, adding toast, biscuit, smoke, and butter to the lemon, pine, rosemary, and coriander. A long and delightful finish that begs for another bite of smoked mackerel with fresh coriander and lemon.