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September 2021

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  It must be two years now since I visited Mor Salkım in Bodrum. At the time, the winery largely catered to the droves of tourists in Bodrum and the general population in the Muğla province. One of the most beautiful vineyards I've seen in Turkey. Perfectly manicured, set on rolling hills, and marching alongside the olive trees the winery uses to produce oil. At the time of my visit, I found the wines to be pleasant but simple and somewhat homogenous regardless of grape variety. The winery has developed quite a bit, I think, since my visit. They've rebranded their wine series, got better labels, and I'm happy to

  Discussion around wine influencers and their help or harm to wine writers has been a hot topic in the wine writing world of late. Some accept influencers as a matter of course [for any industry], or even think that they’re underutilized. However, others resent them for being (possibly) unqualified and cheapening years of wine study and service that the acknowledged experts undergo. Regardless of one’s feelings on the topic, social media is going nowhere and neither are the influencers. In Turkey as in other wine countries, influencers are big, particularly on Instagram. While their role may be hotly debated elsewhere; here in Turkey they are actually necessary. Since 2013,

  Not that very many things ever were fully closed for COVID (or not at least for long), but Turkey is more and more open now. As such, I decided it was finally time to get back to doing in person wine tastings! My first one recently had a small group of attendees in person (people I knew well who would bear with me during the moments when I forgot how to be in front of people again!) as well as online participants. To get back into the groove, I chose to do a tasting concentrating on a single grape: Yapıncak. Those who were with me virtually received tasting kits

  We left the A. Gere vineyards on day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu and headed to their winery for a walk around tasting of Villány's 12 best Cabernet Franc wines. Villány and Cabernet Franc While Villány's historically most important grape is Portugieser, it is most renowned for Cabernet Franc. Here in what is called the 'devil's punch bowl' due to the intense heat the region receives, Cabernet Franc ripens both well and predictably every year. Plush, velvety tannins, ripe fruit flavors, and those lovely earthy and spicy notes that make Cab Franc stand out are on full display in Villányi Franc. PDO Villány wines have three quality levels: Classic: no

  This is the first review I've done for this winery. And while I've now had a couple few of their wines, I still don't know what to call the winery. Is it Kayraklı Şarapçılık (as indicated by the URL)? Asarcık Şarap or Asarcık Bağları (both of which are on the website)? No idea, so I'm throwing them all up here.  Whatever its name is, the winery is based in the Muğla district of the Aegean. Founder Orhan Kayraklı planted his organically farmed vines in the Asarcık valley between the Bozdurun and Selimiye villages. The vines, completely surrounded by mountainous terrain, grow at 250 meters. Continuous winds cool the valley making

  After our tasting and dinner at Lajvér Borbirtok in Szekszárd, we got back in our cars for the day's final drive. Happily, not three hours again. This time just one hour to get us to Villány. Half of us were dropped off at the winery Csányi Pincészet (producers of Teleki Villány wines) to stay in the winery's guesthouse. While day 2 involved a great deal of road time, day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu would see us in just this one location. [caption id="attachment_16460" align="alignright" width="451"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Villány Due to its location in the south of Hungary, near the Croatian border, Villány (pronounced vie-añ) is the

  Not far from Solera is Tarihi Pano Şarap Evi (Pano), an old-school spot that takes you back in time, to when wine and multiculturalism were still in fashion. Established in the 1920s by Panayot Papadapulous, Pano has the feeling of an old-fashioned Greek taverna. The extensive food menu includes both Turkish and international favorites but according to Yüksel, the wine expert you’ll usually find behind the bar, the cheese plate and wine are the biggest sellers. Papadapulous, from a Greek Orthodox family in Samatya, moved to Istanbul in the 19th century where he began secretly importing and selling wine from Bozcaada (then known its Greek name Tenedos).  In 1898

  We left Tornai after our tasting to continue our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu in a different region: Szekszárd. But first, another three hour drive! There was lots of driving on this trip. I was pretty happy to not have to be the one driving at least! I'm usually the one behind the wheel. Plus, all these long drives gave us time to get to know one another. [caption id="attachment_16420" align="alignright" width="449"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Szekszárd  Szekszárd (sek-sard), was not entirely a new-to-me region in that I'd heard of it and had previously drunk some Szekszárdi wines. But I'd never been before this tip! Located in southern Hungary, a stone's throw from

  I am slowly slowly coming around to rosé. Well, I say "slowly slowly" but I'm discovering more and more wines that I enjoy. In fact, I dare say that I might be a full-on fan of rosé. I've avoided a fair number of wines because of my previously anti-rosé stance and I'm trying to correct that. Now I'm digging up pink wines I'd previously bypassed and have uncovered a couple gems! Prodom, one of Turkey's Aegean wineries based outside İzmir has made a rosé for years. I've never tried it. But when one of my favorite wine shops, Mensis Mahzen, recommended it, I decided to give it a go.