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September 2014

Home2014 (Page 2)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Gallipoli is known for one thing, the shameful waste of lives in the World War I Battle of Gallipoli (or the Mel Gibson movie about the same). Lead by the man who would later become Father of the Turks, Kemal Mustafa this last glorious victory of the crumbling Ottoman Empire and Winston Churchill’s refusal to give up the Darandelles lead to the death of nearly 57,000 Allied soldiers. This battle is particularly felt by Australians and New Zealanders and I’ve never met a one visiting Turkey who doesn’t also visit Gallipoli. Hopefully, Gallipoli will be known for happier things as Suvla wines become more well-known and popular! Although the

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Despite my resolve to review whites for the summer I’m moving back to reds. I just really don’t like dry whites under the best of circumstances and I think I’ve finally run out of Miskets. So now it’s back to tannins and red wine hangovers. Suvla wines break my rule about buying “reasonably-priced” wine. The Sur (which I’m trying to find another bottle of so I may properly review it) sets you back about 80TL which is more than I generally pay for wine regardless of which country produces it. However-they’re worth it. They’re so very much worth it. Not being able to locate the Sur, I picked up another

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I took a shot on this one and picked it up at Carrefour a few weeks ago. I’d been avoiding it because it seemed somehow, well frankly it looked like it wasn’t going to be a winner. Was I wrong! Unlike the Pamukkale Sultaniye I reviewed ages ago, the Kavaklidere Sultaniye is not a straight up dry white but a semi sweet; and it was lovely. The super pale lemony yellow color and floral and hay notes in the nose were promising. Sultaniye is  known for a flavor profile that includes: asparagus, pear, pineapple, mango, floral, lemon, golden and green apples, and hay. In this Kavaklidere Sultaniye, the floral flavors were really pronounced

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  The 2011 Diren Karmen was by far, in my opinion, the best of the reds that we tested at the wine tasting I hosted. From the makers of last week’s water Okuzgozu/Bogazkere, the Diren Karmen was a nice come back and puts Diren wines back on the map for me. From the deep ruby color to the tanniny and berry finish this one was a winner for me. The promise of red fruits and spice on the nose did not let me down this time. Medium tannins, nice but not overly dry, juicy cherries and red berries with spices that went all the way through the flavor. This is

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  A few weeks ago I hosted a Turkish wine tasting for some colleagues. We tried eight different wines, some I’ve had before myself, some I haven’t.The four whites were: Corvus Kavga, Pamukkale Sultaniye dry, Pamukkale Savignon Blanc, and Ancyra Muscat. The reds were: Pamukkale Trio, Ayra Kalecik Karasi/Bogazkere, Diren Karmen, and the 2012 Diren Öküzgözü Boğazkere. Of the wines I haven’t reviewed yet, I probably will not create them for the Corvus Kavga or the Pamukkale Savignon Blanc. They were not winners for me. The Corvus was far too dry and the Sauvignon Blanc too far left on the zesty lime-flowery peach scale for me. We will however talk about

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  It’s so hot and humid in Istanbul these days it seems that even the Internet can’t be fussed to work. Knock on wood but it seems to have recovered at least a little today, although I have to compose all my emails in advance so I can hit ‘send’ during one of its working moments. But to the point: I’ve had a couple wine now from Corvus and I’m not sure that I’m a fan. Could be I’m just picking the wrong grapes. The Corvus Teneia is a varietal wine made out of the Çavuş grape. Corvus Teneia 2012 Tasting Notes Çavuş is a greenish-gold grape native to the Turkish island of

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Vinkara is fairly widely available here in Istanbul and produces several labels: Winehouse, Reserve, Vinkara, and Quattro. They’re not my favorite producer but since I’m I’ma  drive to try all the Miskets made in Turkey I decided to give the Vinkara Quattro Dömi-Sek a go. This is the first of the Miskets I’ve tried that has truly been a semi-dry. Quite probably that’s why the  Vinkara Quattro Dömi-Sek wasn’t a favorite for me. It was not at all bad and I think, even at 35TL a bottle, I might like to give it another try and see what I think of it a second time around. I went into this

By 0Articles, Wine Reviews

  Yes, it’s Sunday night…well technically I suppose it’s Monday morning which means I’m early for my usual wine post. And I have no pictures because I’m old school and I actually have to upload them from a camera, resize them, then upload them to the blog. HOWEVER it is…1:07 AM and I’m on my terrace with five if my new favorite people, one of whom has asked me to live blog our current drinking adventures. We began our evening at one of my favorite restaurants in Sultanahment (The Anatolya Cafe and Restaurant) with four bottles of wine. And, like a good Turk, I invited them back to mine for

By 0Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The Leona Bloom is yet another winner in the Misket family! I’ve only tried one wine from Leona in the past, a Kalecik Karasi/Merlot blend I didn’t much care for; however the Leona Bloom was quite lovely. Just sweet enough to not be dry, quite easy to drink and very aromatic with beautifully pronounced florals. As with the previous Miskets, the Leona Bloom had a lovely pale, clear yellow color and floral nose but what made it stand out from the previous Misket wines I’ve tried was how strong the orange blossom aromas were. Since the orange blossom aspect of the Misket is my favorite part of the wine

By 0Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I am making it my mission this summer to try all the Misket wines produced in Turkey! And so far all of them are winners. Doluca’s Safir semi-sweet Misket is no exception. Before I wax poetical about its orange blossom and honeysuckle flavors, a little technical information about the Misket grape is needed, I think. Misket (or Muscat for us Westerners) grapes come from Izmir along the Aegean. The wines they produce run the gambit between “dry” to dessert. I say “dry” though as my personal experience, with any Muscat, not just Turkish, is that a so-called “dry” Muscat leans a little closer to semi-dry than straight up dry. Doluca