but if sheer references are to be believed , they were the minority compared to this wine and its popularity . ( Lead , even on the outside of bottles , was completely banned in 1970 .)
As threads of delicious wine weave through history , these blends must have been good . We see them again with the Goths and Celts , Arthur ’ s court and then Samuel Pepys ’ diary confirmed its place in British society where his refinement of the blend came to be known as punch , with or without the rum .
Wine sold with other additions to it are now regarded as the outliers , less than one percent of the world ’ s wine production . Where once the additions of medicines , flowers , honey and herbs were the norm , much like we would build a cocktail , these are far less common since Pasteur and his microscope assured us that friendly bacteria and cleanliness bolster a wine ’ s personality .
Yet , the descendants of these styles still have shelf space in every wine store , liquor store and bar — even here in the wine-rich Pacific Northwest .
AROMATIZED WINES OF TODAY
RETSINA
One of those descendants , a Greek one , adds chips of pine resin to flavor a historic , national wine . Retsina is distinctively pungent to the uninitiated and distinctively delicious to the islanders of Greece and Cypress . Rarely essayed outside of these regions , it is protected as a style by the regulations of the EU . The resin itself adds no balance other than the sweet see-saw of nostalgia with nods to Opa , Oma and pre-Ottoman Hellas . Flavor is a strong unifier .
VERMOUTH
Also protected by the European Union but mimicked more widely is the aromatized wine ( usually fortified with brandy ) we know as vermouth . Definitely the most famous of flavor-added wines today , deified by Dean Martin and the martini-loving “ rat pack ,” this wine is found in every
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