Achaia Clauss, Retsina, year? (Greece) - A recent try in our work's wine tasting group.  I've been curious for a long time about this one and I'm grateful to the peer who researched it, had the nerve to pick one up,  and picked up what I believe to be a respectable sample. 

Cutting to the chase, I'm scoring it a 3 out of 10 (well below average), but, on my newer rating system I'd simply label it "historic".  It's an aleppo resin (similar to pine) infused into white wine.  At room temperature you can still taste some actual wine but really the pine is why everyone comes to this show and it is dominant.  Somehow this sample was less potent than I imagined it would be (I expected floor cleaner) and that in part is why I'm convinced we got a respectable brand sample of it (because this was almost tolerable). 

Now, some comments about why this wine exists.  On the web there are a variety of explanations most of which I think are just guessing.  I'm actually going to refer you to a respectable book...Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, by Patrick E. McGovern, 2003, ISBN-13: 978-0-691-12784-2.  This is the first hand account of a scientist who studied pottery shards from the cradle of civilization trying to trace the origins of viniculture (which by the way centers around and between the Caucasus, Zagros, and Taurus Mountains which are between the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas).  In pretty much every ancient residue studied there was evidence of pine-like resins.  You can honestly and confidently say that at the birth of time for wine virtually all wine was like Retsina (though not just whites).  Storage and transport were imperfect back then, spoilage was a major problem, adding resin significantly prolonged the life of the wines.  I did see an alternate theory on the web that it started by the Greeks so they could deter Roman conquerers from taking all their wine.  Frankly resin wines predated the Roman empire.  Perhaps the Retsina style was revived for the reason of that later theory, but it wasn't invented for that reason.  Personally, I just believe resin wine was always around somewhere from the beginning and it's kept alive in Greece for historic reasons.

Achaia Clauss, Mavrodaphne of Patras, Red Dessert Wine, year ? (Greece) - Enjoyable and interesting.  It most resembles madeira (which I love) although I do find madeira's richer and more complex.  I'd also draw comparisons to marsala and port.  Although it's a red grape based wine it actually looks most like madeira to me.  Reportedly this is made in a solera method (aka like sherry) and has added alcohol (like port, but with lower alochol %).  All in all I'd give it a 6 out of 10 for upper average, and I'm tempted to label it "historic" but it's not really ancient and it reportedly was invented for marketing specifically by Achaia Clauss.  Finally, I want to comment that this is $10-$15 in price which compared to madeiras and decent ports is actually a pretty good buy.

Concannon, Central Coast Zinfandel, Limited Release, 2006 (California) - This was highly recommended in a store and since I love big bold jamming zins I was excited to get it.  Honestly the flavor didn't blow me away and it took a while to open up but I still thought it was decent and enjoyed it.  Sometimes, though, I stumble across a wine which has a tremendous vascular impact on me, really makes me feel my arteries open up, and I swear this is one of those wines, which surprises me because usually it's more tanic wines that do it to me.  So I'd buy this again just for the vascular effect.  All in all I'll give this a 6 out of 10 for upper average.

Sitios de Bodega, Con Class, Rueda, 2006 (Spain) - This white wine was highly recommended as a tasty good value in several different stores and I believe I even read a write-up about it.  Personally I don't see what the fuss was about.  It's fine but really I'd call it an ordinary white.  I don't get the exotic fruits or refreshing flavors, neither did Nancy.  Simply 5 out of 10 for lower average.