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March 2017

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By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  A few months ago I held a big Chamlija tasting for a group of friends on E&M’s terrace. After our visit to Chamlija we made a huge order of wines and I basically ordered one of everything. One that I was particularly looking forward to trying was the Chamlija Köpek Gülderen. Dog killer?! Why was I so excited to try this particular Pinot Noir? There’s a Turkish phrase: “köpek öldüren” which means ‘dog killer’. This expression describes the worst of the worst wines. As in, it’s so bad it could kill a dog. Chamlija has cleverly capitalized on this very common phrase with a very clever play on words. Their wine, ‘Köpek Gülderen’

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

  In addition to the bottle of Garage de Papa Rouge LT brought me on her way back from Israel she gave me a bottle of 2013 Flam Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Of the two, for me, the Flam was the star. The Flam winery was established in 1998 and is truly a family business. Israel Flam is one of Israel’s wine pioneers and worked in leading wineries before beginning this venture. The sons Gilad (CEO) and Golan (winemaker), daughter Gefen (brand manager), and matriarch Kami (CFO) are all deeply involved. The winery is located in the Judean Hills around Jerusalem and managed like a European estate winery. The family’s passion for

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  The Chateau Kalpak 2011 is a classic Bordeaux blend made by one of Turkey’s premiere winemakers; Chateau Kalpak. Made in a chateau-style this 2011 blend took a well-deserved gold medal at the 2014 Austrian Wine Challenge. What is a “chateau-style” wine? The word came into use originally to describe wine in France where winemakers used grapes all grown on one “terroir” (a specific patch of land) to achieve a house-style wine with a consistent character across vintages. Chateau Kalpak wines are made in this style. The Chateau Kalpak 2011 is a classic Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. All the grapes are grown in one vineyard in Gellibolu.

By 0Red Wine, Rest of the World, South American Wines, Wine Reviews

  E brought this bottle of Amauta Corte Inspiracion by Bodega El Porvenir de Cafayate back from a trip to Argentina. She them promptly left on another trip to somewhere (who remembers-75% of her time is spent traveling) so one night M and I broke it out and drank it without her. Oh she was so angry when we couldn’t stop talking about how this was probably the best wine we’d had all year. Located in Valle de Cafayate-Salta, in northern Argentina, El Porvenir de Cafayate is a family-run vineyard focused on keeping the land and culture of Cafayate intact. They have a lot to protect in Cafayate. It’s a valley with a desert climate,

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Likya has a huge range of wines, including several varietals of native Turkish grapes that are really rare; including the Merzifon Karası. I put together an all Likya tasting in the fall for a group and wanted to include several of Likya’s more unusual varietals. In addition to a Chardonnay and a Malbec we tasted an Acikara and this 2015 Merzifon Karası. Going with the Merzifon Karası for this tasting made me a little nervous. For one thing, it wasn’t a small investment. A bottle of this from La Cave will set you back 110TL. Additionally, no amount of Googling netted me any information about this grape. I still know nothing about the

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

  Last fall a friend visited me on her way back from Ramallah. She brought me the gift of a couple bottles of Israeli wine including Lewinsohn‘s 2014 Garage de Papa Rouge. It was my first Israeli wine and now I need to get my hands on more. Grown in the historical Upper Galilee and the Jerusalem Hills, the 2014 Garage de Papa is a blend of 60% Petit Sirah, 20% Marselan, and 20% Carignan and aged 18 months in French oak. From Lewinsohn’s tasting notes on this vintage: “Half of the Petite Sirah grapes were fermented with their stalks (as “vendange entière” or “whole bunch” fermentation). Skin contact is limited to the duration

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  My friend AJ introduced me to Barel Vineyards with this Barel Cabernet Merlot blend from 2013. At 30-something a bottle this was a really pretty decent every day kind of wine. It’s not special but neither will it melt your insides the way some Turkish köpek gülderen (dog killer) wine will. Okay, so that really isn’t the most ringing endorsement I could provide. Located in the Trakya region of Thrace, Barel is vineyard owned by the Akin family. The name comes from a combination of the Akin children’s names: Elif and Barkin. Founded in 1997, Barel cultivates Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and Sauvignon Blanc. With these grapes Barel produces a full range of wines:

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

  It’s been years and years since I’ve been to the Balkans but in that time the quality of the wine there has improved by leaps and bounds. E&M were in Montenegro this summer and brought back several bottles including this 2012 Plantaže Vranac which was a lot nicer than I remember Montenegrin wine being. Vranac is the red wine grape in Montenegro and the Plantaže Vranac is a lovely example of it. It is medium bodied with a bright garnet color and a strong backbone of 14% abv. The acid was quite high though and I think this 2012 would be better in a few more years after it has had a chance

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I have not yet explored Kutman wines much but when I saw this Kutman Gamay Cabernet Sauvignon at Carrefour I couldn’t resist trying buying it. It’s the first Gamay I’ve seen in Turkey and I was curious both as to what Turkey would turn out in a Gamay as well as how it would blend with a Cabernet Sauvignon. It blends really well as it turns out. This Trakya-based winery has produced a really pretty nice blend with these two grapes. Fairly low alcohol for a red, at only 12.5% abv, this Kutman Gamay Cabernet Sauvignon was a medium-bodied wine that has spent eight to twelve months in oak