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August 2015

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  The Vylyan Ordog 2012 we found at a restaurant one evening. Our choices were limited to only three reds (one of which was immediately eliminated for the sin of being a Merlot) and of the two remaining options, the Vylyan won because of the fantastic description: Because this is Hungary, the description in the menu was in Hungarian, English, and German. I have no idea what the Hungarian says but the English translation was pretty boring telling is only that “barrel aging makes this wine really demonic”. It’s in the German though that we found the best description: “Der Teufel der alten Legende ist liebevoll!” Or: The Devil of

  A while back E and I trekked out to the Kanyon mall to visit Macro Center-a place I have avoided for two and a half years because I heard it was addictive. Macro Center, you see, is the import grocery store. In the end I was actually pretty disappointed by it. My local Carrefour carries a lot of the same things; although I was thrilled beyond measure to find large tubs of red curry paste! No more having to get people to bring/send me the itty bitty pots of Thai Kitchen paste. I was of course hoping that the import store would have a decent selection of foreign

  I’m still excited over having found Turkish Viognier. There are truly very few dry white wines I can even tolerate let alone like and I thought Viognier was lost to me when I left the DC metro area. I won’t give Virginia props for much but they grow an outstanding Viognier. So, it seems, does Chamlija which creates a bottle worth 90-something TL (from Sensus).  We’ve already swooned over the straight up Viognier so now it’s time to talk about the Chamlija Viognier Narince blend. Pale yellow in color, the Chamlija Viognier Narince nose is a little on the flat side (often typical with Viognier) but there are soft notes

  I brought home a number of bottles from my miserable week in Hungary. Which, to clarify, was miserable not because I was in Hungary but because of why I was there. What’s not entirely miserable is this 2012 Chateau Vazsonyi Zweigelt I picked up while there. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Zweigelt wine before. Typically an Austrian grape (although apparently also cultivated in Hungary) the blue-black Zweigelt grape is used for both red and rose wines. A dark, opaque red, the Chateau Vazsonyi is very hot in the nose with cassis and maybe blueberry. It’s definitely a little hot. Not much for the tannins, nor is there a great

  Suvla has out a new series this year: Bigalı (running 19TL/bottle). I believe we’ve already covered the red so, in keeping with drinking more whites during the summer, it is time to discuss the Suvla Bigalı White. The Suvla Bigalı White is like a super blend combining Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, Roussanne, and Marsanne. I’m not even sure where to begin with all of them especially as I am completely unfamiliar with the latter two. So with everything I don’t know in mind…here we go. The 2014 Suvla Bigalı White is straw gold in color.  The nose is very floral (unsurprising really with any of these grapes). On the palate it’s floral,

  We’re trying something a little different today! I was stuck in the middle of nowhere Hungary for work for a 10-day staff retreat…so naturally I was drinking. I was drinking a lot. It’s been 12-ish years since I was in Hungary and I knew zero about wine then which means that Hungarian wine made no impression on me (sorry, dudes). However I was happy to learn on this trip! That was about the only ting I was happy to do on that trip… The village where we were sequestered had a festival of Hungarianness. Although (as one vendor explained to me) it was not Hungarianness that has always been

  I love the Suvla Sauvignon Blanc. Love. So when I was recommended the Suvla Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend I was only too happy to try it. I don’t know much about Semillons and learning with Suvla is usually a safe bet, especially at 43TL a bottle. Suvla’s blend is very, very pale, almost colorless; but what it lacks in color it makes up for in the nose. Floral, peach, and grapefruit. On the palate I got a lot of butter but also peach, citrus, and a little mango I think. Crisp, minerally, and with a long, clean finish make me think that this medium bodied white would pair nicely with medium