Modern Greece World War II and the Greek Civil War, back to back, continued the devastation of Greece's wine industry for an entire decade. In the 1950s, just as Greece's national fortunes took a turn for the better, a major population shift towards emerging urban centers robbed the countryside–and vineyards–of their human resources. With small-scale local production at an all-time low, and small commercial production practically nonexistent, the stage was set for the creation of a volume-oriented bottled wine industry. The sixties and seventies saw a small group of large producers come to dominate the country in a furious struggle for market share that continues to this day. Despite some worthy products and good winemaking intentions, "the Four", as they are called by the new generation of winemakers (many of whom had to battle their way tooth and nail past them during the 1980s and 1990s), had no incentive to compete against French wine, the standard in quality at the time. During the 1960s, retsina, which had been an important, but non-defining component of Greece's wine culture, suddenly became the national beverage. Wine regions having no previous claim to retsina, traditionally predominant in Attika, suddenly entered the game. Huge tracts of vineyard, many good for nothing that wasn't painted over with a broad stroke of resin, were devoted to creating and meeting this demand. As Greece's tourist industry began reaching dizzying heights, Retsina came to predominate foreign associations with Greek wine. One of our favorites. Honestly. Forces within the government and the industry, however, saw the writing on the wall. Evangelos Averof had planted Greece's first Cabernet Sauvignon vines in Metsovo in 1963. Domaine Carras, a large vineyard and winery in Halkidiki on the northern Aegean coast, had opened in 1966. Devoted to producing export-quality wines from both foreign and indigenous varieties, Carras heralded a new era in which quality would become increasingly important to Greek producers. With membership in the European Union believed critical in certain quarters and Greece's wines (though successful with the Greek Diaspora) a laughing stock in America and other important markets, concerned parties propelled legislation establishing appellation laws in 1971 and 1972. Although the appellations, in some instances seemed designed to preserve the status quo, they contained legitimate provisions for the preservation of valuable traditions and few restrictions that would ultimately harm the better-motivated producers of quality wine. Other small, serious ventures began appearing quietly during the seventies: Hatzimichalis, Parparousis and Spyropoulos in 1973. Emery in 1974, Katsaros in 1978 and Semeli in 1979. Although the mainstream Greek consumer was still unready for boutique wines at the end of the decade, small production wine had great appeal to the most educated segment of the market. Upscale retailers and restaurants, excited by the potential of new, more expensive products, leapt at the chance to participate in the new trend. By the eighties and early nineties, some assistance from the European Community had been realized. Aided in part by EU grants, it was a boom period for small producers. The list of entrants reads like a who's who of the Greek wine revolution: Strofilia, Gentilini, Antonopoulos, Gerovasiliou, Frederico and Kostas Lazaridis, Merkouri, Tselepos, Megapanos, Papantonis, Oenoforos, Sigalas and Skouras. Hatzimichali, specializing in Western varieties, became the first producer outside of "the Four" to have a major impact on consumer sensibilites. The two Lazaridis wineries announced the new focus on quality in export markets such as England and America. Small family estates, relegated for decades to local distribution or negociant supply, began rising to the occasion. Roxane Matsa, Keimi Chrisohou, Christos Aidarinis, the Melitzanis brothers, Yiannis Papaioannou, Yiannis Argiros, the Lyrarakis brothers and others, saw the opportunity to mine the potential of family holdings, some dating to the nineteenth century, engaging in the production of world-class wines. The pace of the development of the industry was so rapid that there are members in their fifties who seem to have achieved the status of elder statesman.