Sestina

Really? I'm supposed to write about one of the most complex of poetic forms, the sestina , on this, the hottest Saturday of the hottest week of the year? That's a tall order. And compose a sestina as well? Ha ha, like that's ever going to happen! How about I write about Retsina instead - cold, refreshing wine of Greek vine and pine - that's close enough, isn't it? Only a couple of letters adrift, and it rhymes. We'll all be much happier that way. (Heatstroke of genius!) Do we have a deal? I'll just refill my glass...

On my first visit to dusty Crete (nearly fifty years ago now) I was often told the story of how Retsina originated. The popular myth was that the ancient Greeks needed all the oak available to build ships for their nautical excursions against the Persians, Spartans or Trojans, (the enemy varied with the telling), as a consequence of which they started storing their wine in barrels made from pine instead of barrels made from oak, and the wine thereby took on a resinated flavour. All fanciful nonsense, of course. Wine wasn't kept in barrels in times BC. (Barrels were a Roman invention, around 200 AD.) In ancient Greek times wine was kept in large pottery storage jars or amphorae. And resinated wine didn't really exist in BC either, being a much more recent invention, probably around the first century AD.

The most likely explanation for its original popularity dates back to the Roman occupation of Greece some two thousand years ago, when the locals discovered that the Romans didn't like Greek wine that came from amphorae that had been sealed with pine resin. Such wine took on a slightly bitter 'turpentine' taste that didn't suit the Roman palate. It's certainly an acquired taste, one which the incentivised Greeks embraced. Very soon the practice of using pine resin to seal jars of white wine became surprisingly widespread throughout occupied Greece. To me, it's a distinct and lovely taste, unique to and redolent of that wonderful country.

Retsina is traditionally made with the Greek Savatiano grape, sometimes blended with Assyrtiko and Rhoditis varieties. It is made in the same manner as other white or rose wines except for the essential addition of small pieces of Aleppo pine resin which are added to the must during fermentation. It should be drunk very cold on a hot day with a good view and a plate of meze.

How are we doing? The Retsina is going down a treat, by the way, just what one needs in the jewel of the north on a scorcher like this. As for a sestina, at six verses of six lines each plus a three line envoi, all far too long to contemplate in the present climate. And that's without the added complication that the six words that end the lines of the first verse then have to end the lines of the other five verses as well but in a different and pre-set order each time: 1/2/3/4/5/6 then 6/1/5/2/4/3, 3/6/4/1/2/5, 5/3/2/6/1/4, 4/5/1/3/6/2, 2/4/6/5/3/1. The only bonus, if it is one, is that none of this has to rhyme. Most sestinas I've come across have struggled to sound unforced. I sense I'm gaining a little sympathy now and your disappointment is quickly ebbing away. Cheers! Good Retsina can be purchased at most decent supermarkets, plus Lidl during Greek week.

I'll tell you what I'll do, as I'm a little embarrassed (if I'm honest) about wriggling out of the task in the way that I've done. I'll leave you with the three-line envoi today, and the promise that some time when it's not the hottest Saturday of the hottest week of the year, the rest of the sestina will follow.

Retsina (Envoi)
Enraptured with cool resin-laden wines,

Timeless and tideless our golden minds

Shimmer in the glowing of the moment.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the heatwave. S ;-)