PARTICIPATION IN THE RESEARCH
– Completing the questionnaire will take approximately 10 minutes.
– The questionnaire is completely anonymous and the information collected will be used for the purposes of the specific research.
TEAM
We are a team of researchers with many years of expertise in winemaking, wine history and tourism.Combining our professional experience in the field of wine and our love for the city of Thessaloniki, we look for the mosaics of personal stories that make up the history of the city.Our guide is retsina, the most emblematic of Greek wines, its history, the habits and culture surrounding its enjoyment.
THE RESEARCH
THESSALONIKI, THE CITY OF RETSINA
The goal is to create an enriched and specialized wine-tourism experience that will highlight the history, culture and enjoyment of retsina, the most iconic of Greek wines, which has been linked like no other to the city of Thessaloniki and its people.
The new tourism product aims to combine the city’s history and culture with retsina’s consumption culture and culinary tradition, thus providing a high added value travel experience.
RETSINA
Viticulture appeared for the first time during the Neolithic period and is the result of the appearance of the first cultivation efforts and the domestication of the first plants, combined with the invention of the first ceramics, which were the containers for winemaking. According to the data known so far, the first vinifications took place in the South Caucasus region and from there the techniques and process for winemaking spread to the Mediterranean basin.
The first recorded traces of wine were discovered inside amphorae in the Haji Firuz region of present-day Iran, on the Zagros Mountain range. This finding, which dates to 5400-5000 BC, shows that, already at that early period, wine had been integrated into the economic, social and religious fabric of humanity – something that we certainly take for granted today. The impressive thing about this finding is that it contains traces of resin, which means that the oldest recorded sample of wine in history is basically a resinated wine (retinite).
THESSALONIKI
With a population exceeding one million citizens, the city of Thessaloniki is one of the largest cities in Southeastern Europe and the second largest economic, industrial and commercial center in Greece. The local gastronomy has evolved over the centuries alongside the peoples who have lived and developed here, since the region has always been a crossroads of different cultures.
Ingredients of the local gastronomy have always been the fresh ingredients of the land and the sea, all in proximity and blessed by the Mediterranean climate. The world-famous Greek olive oil, dairy products – such as feta, cheese, and yogurt – and retsina are just a few of the quality products that visitors of the city will find.