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August 2021

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

  Some Turkish grape names are very straightforward. Kalecik Karası, for example, means “black from Kalecik.” Very little to argue about there. Others, like Gök, have unknown origins. A few, like Karalahna, have hotly contested translations. Papazkarası (pa-paz-ka-rah-sih) is the only grape with a spelling dispute! Wineries seem to be split down the middle on whether they spell it Papazkarası, with a ‘z’, or Papaskarası, with an ‘s’.  However it gets spelled, one thing everyone agrees on is that this Thracian variety makes darn good wine.  The name means  “black of the pope” or “pope’s black” which allegedly goes back to the Byzantine era when wines made from this grape were

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Based on the Ionian island of Corfu, the Grammenos Family launched its winery in the late 1980s, before the Corfu PGI (est. 1996) even existed! The family has vineyards in several locations on Corfu including the village of Sinarades, about 2 km from the winery, as well as in Skafonas, Korakas, and Vouni on the west of the island, at an altitude of 250-300 meters. They grow several varieties but one of their main grapes is Corfu native, Kakotrygis. Κακoτρυγης (Kakotrygis) gets transliterated in several ways. I've seen it as both Kakotrygis and Kakotrigis, but it can also apparently be spelled: Kako Tryghi, Kakotriguis, Kakotriki, and Kakotryghis. Κακό (kako) means

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Quite some time ago I had the opportunity to attend a vertical tasting of some of Doluca's Karma wines. These were the red blends, mainly Shiraz Boğazkere and Cabernet Sauvignon Öküzgözü blends. You can see my review of all of those here. Since then, I also got my hands on a bottle of the white Karma. Which frankly was not entirely recently. My drinking sadly outpaces my blogging by rather a lot! While the Karma line includes three red blends (the aforementioned Shiraz Boğazkere, Cabernet Sauvignon Öküzgözü, and a Merlot Boğazkere), there is only one white in the series. Like the other three wines, the white blends together an

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  I started my wine bar reviews with the most recent wine bar I'd visited, Carafe Istanbul. Now, we go back to the beginning with Istanbul's best and, in my opinion, only true wine bar. Solera. Tucked into a narrow storefront on Yeni Çarşı, Solera’s small sign and deeply recessed space is are easy to miss if you’re not looking for them. This wine bar offers an intimate and cozy setting with squat tables, cushy low stools, and a retro playlist. The food menu is limited but eclectic, offering Turkish mezes, pizza, pasta and steak. But you didn’t come here for a meal, you came to drink your way through

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The Hasandede grape hails from Turkey's Central Anatolia region. It has historically not been shown a lot of love by the winemaking community. But hopefully, this is changing. Kalecik-based Vinkara first began using it some years ago and makes a varietal Hasandede as part of its Winehouse line. Gelveri, located between Cappadocia and Aksaray, uses it to make amphora-aged skin-contact wines. And now Polatlı winery Gordias has jumped on the fan wagon with its own Hasandede. 2020 was a big year for Gordias as owner and winemaker Canan Gerimli released three new wines made from: Hasandede, Fesleğen, and Narınç, the latter two about which I posted previously. Her wines

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  Many of us have heard the old adage to pair white wine with chicken and fish and red wine with red meat (like beef and lamb). Happily, that advice has pretty much gone out the window over the last years. For one thing…where does pork live in this configuration? What happens when you put a cream sauce on red meat? White wine with delicate fish and seafood sure…but what about heavier (dare I say “meaty”) fish like swordfish or tuna steak? It’s called a “tuna steak” for a reason after all! The best pairing advice has nothing to do with your protein (or vegetable if you swing that way).

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

  Female owned and operated Tafali Bağcılık is one of Turkey's newest wineries. Based in Kalecik, join the ranks of wineries like Tomurcukbağ and Vinkara in focusing on the local grape, Kalecik Karası. So much focus in fact, that they make only two wines. Both 100% Kalecik Karası, one a rosé, the other a red. But before we get to the wines, a bit about the winery and the women behind it.  [caption id="attachment_16287" align="alignleft" width="225"] Me, in lieu of a label![/caption] Fatma Yiğit and Alime Cicerali are agricultural engineers who became friends while working together. They decided to explore a different side of agriculture and started a small vineyard in

By 1Amber Wine, Amphora, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  For August's #WinePW event, host Gwendolyn from The Wine Predator, has invited us to explore amphora aged wines from around the world. You can view her invitation here. If you're reading this early enough, whether you write about amphora-aged wines or not, please feel free to join our Twitter discussion on August 14 at 8am CST / 11am EST / 6pm GMT+3. Based on every archeological and history museum I've ever visited, pottery is the most commonly found, left behind by previous civilizations item. It's the old museum bait and switch

By 0Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  In a somewhat recent wine tasting, Drink Pink!, I featured a series of rosé wines. I'd had many of them before. Two were go-to rosés for me. However, one was completely new to me. And I really rather liked it. Selefkia Blush. Starting right off with the blend, it combines Patkara (80%) and Gök (20%). The grapes were co-fermented with four hours of skin contact. These are both grapes that are slowly starting to emerge onto the market thanks to Mediterranean wineries like Selefkia. Patkara is a black grape and Gök white. Have you heard of Mersin? This is a pretty well-known coastal city on the Turkish Mediterranean. I've never

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Kerküş is not a grape we talk about a lot. In fact, I have written about it only once after visiting Shiluh in Mardin. A well-known Assyrian winery, Shiluh blends Kerküş with another grape native to south east Turkey, Mazrona. However, it's never been available before as a single varietal. Now, thanks to newly opened Assyrian winery Midin Şarapçılık, it is.   [caption id="attachment_16265" align="alignright" width="225"] 60+ year old Kerküş vine[/caption] Midin Şarapçılık sits closer to Şırnak than to Mardin. The family behind the winery, the Salibas, have inhabited the Midin village (or Öğündükköyü as it's known in Turkish) since the 1500s. Recently, the family decided to open their own winery