Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi eu nulla vehicula, sagittis tortor id, fermentum nunc. Donec gravida mi a condimentum rutrum. Praesent aliquet pellentesque nisi.
vino@elated-themes.com

June 2021

Home2021June

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  In the game of 'follow the leader', the current fashion for Thracian wineries is to have a blanc de noir Papazkarası. This is one of the few native Thracian grapes that wineries actively work with. A black grape, Papazkarası can produce really beautiful red wines redolent with dark fruits, black olives,  purple flowers, spice, and sometimes even a hint of salinity. Very few wineries make red wines (or make good red wines) with this grape. In fact, only two spring to mind. And yet, at least four wineries make one, sometimes two, blanc de noir. At least once of which doesn't even have it on their books as

By 0Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  To kick off summer, I recently hosted an online wine tasting of some of Turkey's island wines. Turkey has several islands which boast great seafood, nice beaches, old forts, beautiful scenery, and yes, wine! Many of the grapes grown on these island grow only on these islands. Happily for those of us in Turkey, we needn't trek to the islands for the wines as they're widely available on the mainland. For the tasting, I selected five wines from four different wineries. Four grapes are native Turkish but one is a Croatian transplant. Yes. Croatian. You'll have to read on to find out which grape! Çamlıbağ AyaPetro Erken Hasat, 2020 We began

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Pošip was a new to me grape when I got this bottle. I'd heard of it but hadn't ever had it. Luckily for me, I managed to source a bottle during one of my last trips back to the states. And no, the irony of buying a bottle of Croatian wine imported to the US then bringing it back to Turkey-geographically so much closer to Croatia than is Las Vegas-is not lost on me! Native to Croatia, Pošip grows mainly on the island of Korčula in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. A number of grapes grow on Korčula, including  Plavac Mali, Plavac Sivi, Maraština, etc., but the island

By 0Amber Wine, Articles, Orange Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine

  Yapıncak (ya-pin-juck) is one of Turkey's great, underappreciated grapes. Capable of producing a wide range of wine styles, from simple and refreshing to traditional method sparkling, I for one really don't understand why so few wineries use it. Especially for all those wineries located in the Marmara region that told me "well there really are no native grapes here;" ahem. Yapıncak. Granted, the Yapıncak grape can be tricky to work with. In the vineyard it's prone to low yields even in good years however, while the grapes are very thin-skinned they have good disease resistance. Grown in the Marmara and Aegean regions around the Gallipoli Peninsula, Yapıncak grapes are

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  Over the last few years I have slowly studied for and taken some wine certification exams. Slowly because I'm a terrible procrastinator. I like to know things but do not enjoy the process. But, since I have yet to have my Keanu Reeves "we live in the Matrix" moment and cannot have information planted in my head, study I must. One of the most difficult aspects of wine study for me has been memorizing the sheer volume of information that comes with European appellations. DOCG, AOP, IGP

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Have you ever found a producer who just excels at something? For me that person is Akın Gürbüz. I enjoy all his wines (his new Sauvignon Blanc is killer) but in my opinion where he really shines is his reds. Akın Gürbüz made a new red wine? Both hands in the air, sign me up, where do I get in line?! He's recently released a slew of new wines including: Hieros Oros (a Bordeaux-style), and varietal Merlot and Cinsault. I drank, I swooned. I haven't yet posted about them here (although I have on Instagram). His Blend #1 isn't new though. I'm going back to the classics with this one.

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This month, Linda from My Full Wine Glass has challenged the #WinePW group to find those 'difficult' to pair foods. You can read her invitation post here. We'll be chatting about this on Twitter on June 12 at 11 am EST / 8 am CST / 6 pm Istanbul. Whether or not you wrote a post for the event join us! See what creative pairings the group came up with and chime in with your discoveries! For some people (myself included) any pairing brings on insecurity and nervous sweats. I do not like food pairing. And yes, I see the irony in being part of not one, not two,

By 0Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Narince is made into fresh stainless steel aged wines, rich oak-raised wines, and traditional method sparkling wines. They are always dry. Narince is never sweet. No sooner were the words out of my mouth at a semi-recent wine tasting focusing on this grape than what did I see at the grocery? A semi-sweet Narince wine. Narince is the Black Sea grape. While many wineries work with independent growers in the region or have their own vineyards there, only Diren winery actually makes wine on site. Despite that, the winery has done remarkably little with the grape. I like the Diren Collection Narince quite a lot. I think it stands as

By 2Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This is a semi sponsored post but all opinions are my own.  While Paşaeli has built a reputation for its wines made from rescued and little-known Turkish grapes, the winery does produce a handful of wines using international grapes. In the past, these wines have all utilized black grapes. For example the Kaynaklar and K2 Bordeaux blends. Not anymore! Released last year, the Paşaeli Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş (once upon a time) marks the winery's first single-varietal white wine made with an international grape. Specifically, Chardonnay. Paşaeli Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş, 2019  Harvested from vineyards in Çal, the Chardonnay came from the vast expanse of Turkey's Aegean region. The wine is 100%

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  On Bozcaada, Turkey’s third largest island, winds are so strong that only a limited variety of vegetation can withstand them. Olive trees look gnarled and bent and appear to be forever hunched over in an attempt to protect themselves from the battering winds. Poppies, one of the island’s biggest crops, survive only due to their proximity to the ground. And yet it is from this inhospitable and windswept environment that Turkish island wines are born. Perhaps you know Bozcaada by its old name, Tenedos. Under this moniker, the island (and its wines!) rated mentions in both the Iliad and the Aeneid. It is, after all, just a hop, skip,