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September 2017

Home2017 (Page 3)

By 0Amber Wine, Amphora, European Wines, Orange Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  Tanini was one of my favorite winery finds at Tbilisi’s New Wine Festival this year. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a bottle of their rose to bring home though. The Tanini Qvevri Mtsvane amber wine more than made up for any disappointment though! Tannins, tannins, tannins Tanini is the brain child of Emzar Vasadze who makes traditional Georgian wines in Kakheti. Using only native grapes, he produces Saperavi, Tavkveri, Mtsvane, Rkatsiteli, Kisi, and Saperavi Rose wines; mostly in qvevri. Georgian wines, particularly qvevri wines, are knows for being pretty tannic and he took the name of his wine, Tanini, for that quality. But wait, what are qvevri and amber wines? I am by no means

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Nıf Vineyards is one of the Turkish wineries I have only recently become interested in. This is due in large part to its 2012 Sangiovese.   Based in Ege, Izmir, Nif Vineyards is one of Turkey’s Aegean region wineries. What makes Nıf especially interesting is that more than any other winery here I know, it focuses heavily on Italian grapes. In a country which favors French grapes the Italian grapes we see here are few and far between. Nıf’s wines are not inexpensive. They run a gambit from about 70 TL (the Nıf Vineyards Sangiovese was 69 TL at the Savoy Tobacco shop in Cihangir) to 140 and above. They are worth

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

  Before E&M left Turkey they had a going a way party that really was just a ‘eat and drink whatever is still around’ party. Included in that were a few bottles of Greek wine they’d picked up while there visiting family. Estate Papaoiannou This Terroir Agiorgitiko comes from Ktima Papaioannou. An organic vineyard, Ktima Papaioannou’s vineyards are located in the AO (Appellation of Origin) of Nemea. They grow a fairly wide variety of both native and international grapes including: Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon, Roditis, Assyrtiko, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Touriga, Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc, and Petit Verdot. The Terroir Agiorgitiko is a limited edition wine with only 4,500 bottles produced. It spent two years in

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  In the semi-recent past I led a tasting called the Four Faces of Papaskarası . We tasted four of Chamlija’s Papaskarası wines: the Blanc de Noirs, Blanc de Noirs Fumé, Papaskarası , and Papaskarası Reserve. I’ve had the Blanc de Noirs before but this was my first go round with the Chamlija Blanc de Noirs Fume. It was not only my favorite of the night but everyone’s favorite! I often feel spoiled as there are a number of wineries that ship directly to me; Chamlija being one of them. However there are a couple Chamlija wines for which I would pay the inflated retail price. The Blanc de Noirs Fume is

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

  I love Italian wine. Red or white. I don’t care. I love it all. And when you find a trusted producer, like Marchesi Antinori, you are guaranteed that even the lower end wines will be nice. Such is the case of the Villa Antinori Bianca 2015. The Villa Antinori Bianca is a Tuscan wine. A white Tuscan wine! Surely not! Surely yes! Tuscany is not just about red wines. The red wines might be more well-known but there is no shortage of white wine in Tuscany. Marchesi Antinori is the famed producer of Tignanello-the herald and (still) standard bearer of Super Tuscan wines. Antinori produces far more than Super Tuscans

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Barbare is perhaps one of my favorite Turkish wineries. Their wines range from perfectly lovely to truly special and the Libra is no exception. Sitting between the villages of Barbaros and Yazır in Tekirdağ, Barbare grapes are cultivated with organic and biodynamic farming methods. Founder Can Topsakal focuses on international, red variety grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. Barbare’s most important ideology and conviction is “to give back to the soil what it has taken” and as a result, is dedicated to cultivating the choicest grapes and organic farming. To endorse this commitment, Barbare received the hard-won Ecocert certification. Ecocert was established in France in 1991 and is an independent inspection

By 0Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  For years I avoided most sparkling wines. I found that almost all of them made me ill; instant migraine. Maybe I’m just getting more drinking practice now because that hasn’t happened in a while; freeing me to explore Turkish sparkling wines like the Kayra Leona Bubble. Kayra, one of Turkey’s largest and most prestigious wine companies, produces two sparkling wines: Cameo and under its Leona label, Bubble. Both are relatively inexpensive although the Cameo (review soon!) is definitely the higher quality of the two. How is sparkling wine made? There are six different ways to make sparkling wine: traditional method (Méthode Champenoise, méthode traditionnelle), tank method (or charmat), transfer, ancestral, and continuous (the Russian method) methods, and simply adding carbon dioxide. Wine

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Even before our trip to Chateau Kalpak with Em and AJ I’d had a few of their wines. One of them being the AWC Gold Medal winner BBK 2011. Chateau Kalpak is the love child of Bülent Kalpaklıoğlu who began developing the vineyard in 2003. It was not until 2010 that he released his first vintage. His goal for Chateau Kalpak is to create a single chateau-style wine from a single vineyard. In order to achieve this, he picked the best root-stocks and clones of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot to match the vineyard terrior. Only two blends are released annually: Chateau Kalpak and BBK. They harvest, ferment, and age (30-36

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

  Spanish white wines are difficult to find in Istanbul; even in duty free. This Pazo das Bruxas Albariño was the only thing E&M could find the last time they came through. Considering how much I love Albariño though I was glad to have it! The Pazo das Bruxas Albariño  is from Vino de la Familia Torres. For five generations the Torres family has been making wine in Spain. They have vineyards in eight DOs (Denominación de Origen) and two DOCa regions (Denominación de Origen Calificada). Pazo das Bruxas is a wine that pays homages to the folklore and nature of Galicia, a land of immense forests inhabited by mystic and magical beings like the

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  In the spring I attended an Arcadia wine tasting with Murat Mumcoğlu of Şarap Atölyesi. We tried a variety or red and white wines; one of which was the Arcadia Odrysia Narince 2015. Wine made from Narince is not difficult to find; but finding one as special as the Odrysia is not easy. Narince is a native Turkish grape. Originally from Tokat in Anatolia it is both a table grape and is used to make wine. “Narince” in Turkish means “delicately” which perfectly describes the wines it makes. Narince wines display sophisticated and elegant fruit flavors and are very ethereal and aromatic. They reveal aromas of orange, grapefruit, lime, white pineapple,