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February 2018

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  In my research into Turkish wineries I knew that there was one called Mozaik somewhere in Urla. It wasn’t until a wine tasting I attended though that I finally managed to have one of their wines. After that there was no stopping me and I got my hands on as many of their wines as I could.   Mozaik Winery Mozaik Winery’s vineyards and the Mahrem wines produced in its on-site winery are a family project. In 2006 they planted their vines in Urla, near Izmir, smack in the Urla Bağ Yolu.  Situated between Izmir and the famous resort town of Çeşme; Urla is the heart of Izmir-based vineyards. Long before the vineyards

  I had a chance to visit Chamlija’s tasting restaurant a while back. While there I learned that they produce so many more wines than those that make it to the Istanbul market, including the Chamlija Mavrud. Before our visit I had never heard of the Mavrud grape but I won’t forget it now. Bulgarian Roots in Turkey Mavrud is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines, indigenous to the region of Thrace in Bulgaria, particularly around the city of Plovdiv. The grape’s name is likely derived from the Greek word “mavro” which means black. However there’s a nice legend that goes with

  I have not explored Büyülübağ’s wines as much as I should have. My first introduction to them was with one of their Vedat Milor* wines. It wasn’t until one of my first all Turkish (language, not wines) tastings group that I really discovered these wines. It was Christmas Eve and Alp Törüner, founder of Büyülübağ, lead us through a vertical tasting of his Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Törüner’s family has had a huge French influence, two of his aunts are French and brought a lot of French culture to the family; including the practice of drinking wine with meals. This is why he decided to work largely with French varietals. Despite this, his goal is to

  Located in the village of Havsa outside Edirne, Edrine (not to be confused with the city Edirne!) is a family run winery. Founded in 2007 their first vintage came out in 2010. What started as a boutique winery has expanded rapidly and Edrine now produces some 2 million liters of wine annually. The owners, the Öktem family, concentrate on creating quality and affordable wines. At Edrine they believe strongly in the flavor of the “naked” grape they use very little oak. At most they add oak chips for a few days. Otherwise everything is aged in steel. The Winery produces under several labels: the eponymous Edrine, 22, and the Color

  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 months) each parcel (about 1 hectar) separately. At Chateau Kalpak they use Hungarian oak barriques made out of wood selected for their balance, bouquet, and character. This

  My Greek wine education began with my friends E&M. E’s family is Greek and her frequent trips to the country the last few years have netted many opportunities to sample wine that she brings back to Istanbul. One of the wines she brought home last year was this Ktima Palivou Nemea Agiorgitiko 2014. Palivou Estate Ktima Palivou (Palivou Estate) is one of the two largest wineries in Greece’s Nemea PDO (protected designation of origin). Its main effort is with the Agiorgitiko grape variety but the estate also cultivates  Rodites, Malagousia, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. In order to take advantage of the various microclimates and soils the estate has vineyards in various