title_body: What modern wine would considered close to the Greek Pramnian wine?
upvoted_answer: I too and trying to recreate this at the moment.  I have seen completely contradictory descriptions of Pramnian wine.  Some very sweet like the Eszencia or Tokaji style made from dried grapes. The Greek study tool online from Tufts defines Pramnian as &quot;raisin-wine&quot; which is too interpretive since other descriptions are are of a dark, dry, strong wine that is not not necessarily pleasurable.
  My approach is to try both.  I went to my local Total Wine store with the largest selection and to their Greek wine section. Pramnian is definitely red and they had four.  One was a retsina which was not a style in Homer's day.  The other three were two dry table wines and a sweeter red for about $10 each.  I got all three. I told the wine clerk what I was doing and he recommended a good quality dry Sardinian red (Dolia) since the volcanic soil where it's grown resembles what would be found in Lesbos. I will start experimenting this week. I may even infuse the wine with herbs like mint and oregano to get to something like a vermouth. I'm using pearl barley, raw yellow honey, and a couple goat cheese varieties (from a fresher chevre, to a drunken goat, to an unpasteurized hard Spanish goat cheese).  My guess is following the recipe will result in a pretty unpalatable concoction but I will deviate as much as I need to until I get to something I like, probably like a goat cheese barley-polenta with onion and red wine.