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December 2016

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By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  For a very brief time I tried OK Cupid in Turkey. It was a largely uneventful experience but I mention it because it was while on a date that I found this week’s wine. He knew I was a wine lover and asked me to recommend a bottle so we wandered into a shop over in Karaköy (I know! I went to Asia for this guy but he was pretty cute, and tall, and a doctor). I was expounding on the merits of different wines when I saw the Prodom label. I started to tell him that if he wanted to invest the money then Prodom was a

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Christmas is almost here! You know what that means? It’s mulled wine season.  My former roommate and I used to make mulled wine together regularly in the run up to Christmas and I continue that tradition even here in Istanbul where Christmas is sadly not so much a thing. There are so many recipes and traditions out there for mulled wine but we’ve always preferred the German Glühwein. On our shared blog, ParMieux Adventures she explains the tradition of Glühwein and what the name means.I’m going to let you wander over there and check it out while I stay here and drink it. There’s something about a pomander that I just love. They’re kind of

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  My first encounter with the Chamlija Felix Culpa happened in the same way I discovered many of Chamlija’s wines…there was one bottle, just the one, sitting on the shelf at La Cave. Anytime that happens with a wine maker I really like I get the bottle and I was so glad I did that with the Felix Cupla. A happy mistake Which was another thing that attracted me to this one. Felix Culpa / Mutlu Hata (happy mistake)…why that name? The grape is a Pinot Noir but this isn’t Chaamlija’s Pinot Noir wine. Chamlija has two Felix Culpa wines-one this Pinot Noir and the other a Chardonnay and while I

By 0Articles, Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  It has been a busy few days full of wine. On the one hand, my two best friends moved out of Turkey but on the other I seem to have joined-however accidentally-the Turkish wine tasting community! Last Thursday was E&M’s impromptu going away party. They left Turkey on Saturday for their next adventure so Thursday Em, J, and I went over to theirs to drink their remaining wine. The next day marked my December Turkish wine tasting. At a suggestion from a friend, this wine tasting focused all on wines from the Aegean region. nitially I only had plans to do four wine: the Paşaeli K2, the 7Bilgiler Phytagoras (review coming

By 0Red Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  A colleague recently brought two bottles of this 2012 Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee back from Beirut for me to try. While she prefers the 2010, the 2012 was all she could find but apparently the Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee is one of her favorite Lebanese wines. Being as she herself is Lebanese I will trust her judgement. The 2012 Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee is a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% abv. Between the hand harvesting and oak treatment the grapes receive you can tell that they care about their wines at Marquis des Beys and if this is any example of the quality of their

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Everything you need to know about the 2009 Barbare Elegance is right in the name: elegant. Barbare is a top-shelf, organic wine producer here in Turkey; I’ve only had two of their wines so far but they were both amazing. Of the two, the Barbare Elegance is my favorite. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvédre, this gorgeous red wine will set you back a pretty penny; about 89 TL at Macro Center, 140 TL at Solera, and somewhere in between at La Cave. I brought this over to M’s a while back and we both swooned over it. The nose, reflective of the Barbare Elegance ‘s color is very dark. I got

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  This was another case of letting the guys at La Cave talk me into something. I figured for 40 TL I wasn’t taking that big of a risk with the Süryanı Şarabı Levy Matiat. I am so glad it wasn’t a larger investment. Assyrian wine Süryanı Şarabı is a traditional Assyrian wine maker from Mardin, Turkey. There are very very few Assyrians left in Turkey, many have fled due to the Kurdish conflict which has hit Mardin particularly hard. The tiny population that remains has been trying to revive the wine industry which is both a fantastic and difficult undertaking. Not only do they have to replant vineyards torn out

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  While Sherlock seemed utterly unmoved by this wine; I was not. I’m not usually a huge fan of Cabernet Franc but when Mustafa Çamlica, the owner of the Chamlija winery, suggested I try the 2014 Chamlija Cabernet Franc I wasn’t going to argue. I am so glad I took his advice. This slightly opaque, bright, garnet red Chamlija Cabernet Franc (found at La Cave for 95 TL) has a nose redolent of dried strawberries, mint, green peppercorn, jalepeno, and green bell pepper. The palate is smooth tannins, mouth-watering acid, and a long finish with lots of spicy and pepper flavors backed up with raspberry and blackberry fruits. My notes have ‘so nice’

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  A couple weeks ago I drank two of Chateau Kalpak wines with some friends and it turns out that my friend AJ knows the owner of the vineyard! Immediately Operation Wine began and we coordinated our schedules to find a weekend we might all be available to go visit Chateau Kalpak. Unfortunately, no one told Bulent Bey, the owner, our plans! When AJ contacted him and we discovered that he would not in fact be at the chateau during our planned visit we had half a day of scrambling and constant back and forth WhatsApp messaging while we figured out if we were all available to make the several hour

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I have two favorite Turkish wines-and one is the 2011 Chateau Kalpak Twin. Chateau Kalpak is a semi newish winery, located in Şarköy on the Marmara Sea. I say semi newish in that I’ve only noticed the wines here in Istanbul for about the last 18 months or so but I believe their vines have been cultivated since the early 2000’s. Getting a bottle of Chateau Kalpak Twin is not for the faint of heart though. Suvla has the best price at 100 TL, Savoy Tobacco and La Cave are both around 115 TL, and at Solera it will set you back 140 TL (-25% if you buy it to go). Is