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May 2020

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

  Assyrtiko. The most iconic of Greek grapes immediately brings to mind images of Santorini, the distinctive vines, and the smell of the sea. Assyrtiko is most at home in the volcanic soils of Santorini; where the vines are trained into baskets low to the ground to protect the fruit from the island's harsh wines. However, it is also grown as far north as Drama in Macedonia. It's a versatile grape used in Vin Santo sweet wines as well as dry varietal wines. As a dry wine, Assyrtiko displays a yellow-gold color with mineral, pear, apple, and citrus blossom aromas and flavors. Assyrtiko can also be found blended; often

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  From one of the most recognizable names in Turkish wine comes the Turasan Seneler Cabernet Merlot Syrah blend. The Turasan Seneler line includes many of the winery's top wines, all of which, red and white, have seem some time in oak. In fact it's right there in the name! "Seneler" means "years" in Turkish and these are Turasan's aged wines. For this wine, Turasan sourced its grapes from several vineyards around Turkey. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot came from the winery's vineyards in Central Anatolia. The Syrah came from Aegean vineyards in Denizli (670 kilometers away). Prior to blending, the wines aged an average of 12 months in French

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Spring has finally spring in Istanbul. We don't have a lot of green in this city so every tender spring bud is a precious miracle. I've lived in cities before and vastly prefer them to swaths of farmland where I grew up. But I do like a happy medium between the concrete and crop jungles. Regardless of where I'm living, one thing that does not change is how happy budding plants make me. Maybe its the rosemary, basil, and mint I just planted on my balcony, one tree on my street or the honeysuckle that seems to be growing out of the building behind mine. I find it all

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

  I know what you're thinking. "Wait, did you say Maui?!" Indeed I did. Kula is a white wine from Maui Wine, a winery located in Hawaiian. Yes, they make wine in Hawaii. Every single one of the 50 States makes wine. My friend E who lives in Athens is more or less from Hawaii. That's what her driver's license says anyway. Athens to the 'big island' is not an easy or cheap trip for one person, let alone two people and a baby (two of whom need US visas). But she does go home sometimes. Prior to her last trip I begged, a lot, for her to please please

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last October Istanbites and I finally made it to Avşa island to visit Alp Törüner and his winery Büyülübağ. A lovely island in the Sea of Marmara, Avşa's population skyrockets in the summer. So we thought we would be really clever by waiting to visit until autumn. But September then October came and went until we were scrambling to book a fare on one of the last boats to the island before winter. Scramble we did though and, while it took forever to find one still open, we had a hotel booking, boat tickets, and were ready to go.   Adventures on Avşa Despite being so far into fall we really were

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Porta Caeli, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, is a luxury wine brand that tries to model itself after Bordeaux. The winery produces several series including Ament (all red), Pacem (whites), Felici (pink), and their entry series, Porta Diverti (all the colors). Previously I reviewed the Porta Caeli Ament Bordeaux blend. This post we're tackling the Ament Cabernet Franc. Porta Caeli Ament Cabernet Franc 2014 Tasting Notes Porta Caeli uses the heaviest blasted bottles I have ever hefted. Even after we finished the wine I kept trying to pour more because empty it felt like it should be full. It would make for a great weapon. The Cabernet Franc here spent 18 months in

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Turkish winery Sevilen has winemaking facilities in both Mürefte and Aydın. They also have vineyards in several locations including Mürefte, Denizli, and across Anatolia. The grapes for this Colombard Semillon wine, a new release last year from Sevilen, come from the winery's Mürefte vineyards. Interestingly, while the wine is new, the vines are not.  It turns out that Sevilen has had its Colombard vineyards for something like 30 years. However, until now they used the grapes for brandy and table wine production only. Then last year, Sevilen's team took a trip to France. There they drank an amazing Colombard-based wine and realized how good it could be. With that

By 0Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last summer, Istanbites and I visited Garova Vineyards and I wrote about a couple of the red wines the winery produces. Now it's time to tackle the Garova Öküzgözü blush.  Nestled in a bowl-like cradle in mountainous Bodrum and nearly lost in the riotous greenery of the surrounding agriculture grow vines of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, and Zinfandel. This is Garova Vineyards. While winery owner Mehmet Vuran grows the four aforementioned grapes onsite; he brings in Öküzgözü from the Denizli district of Izmir. He believes the more moderate climate there a better for Öküzgözü than the heat of Bodrum. I very much enjoy the Bodrum-grown Öküzgözü wines I've had.

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

  [caption id="" align="alignright" width="302"] From oesterreichwein.at[/caption] Whether you call it Welschriesling, Laški Rizling, Olaszrizling, Graševina, Riesling Italico, or anything else, what does not change is how enjoyable the wines are. Despite its name, this grape bears no relation to Riesling. Welschriesling grows largely in Austria but also Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Northern Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Turkey (sort of-we'll get to that). According to Wine Searcher, the grape is "relatively easy to grow, although it does have a preference for dry climates and warm soils. Welschriesling is productive and retains its acidity in warmer climates, making it a reliable grape for growers. In most cases this will