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April 2021

Home2021 (Page 11)

  The #WorldWineTravel blogging group continues its virtual exploration of Spain this month with a trip to Rías Baixas! Host Linda from My Full Wine Glass invited us to grab a bottle from Galicia and chat. Known as "Green Spain", this region in northwest Spain is wet and cool and produces some fantastic wines. It's also got a great double meaning as April is Earth Month! Linda gave a great primer on the area in her invitation post (which you can read here). And I got my bottle so let's get to it! [caption id="attachment_15873" align="alignright" width="400"] Map borrowed from RiasBaixasWines.com[/caption] Rías Bai

  I haven't written before about Çakır Bağcılık ve Şarapçılık. It's a newish winery, releasing its first vintage only last year. Until recently this was the only of their wines I've had it being the only native grape they work with. And while I had it last summer (I am so behind on my writing up my notes!) with warmer weather coming back around I've been thinking about how darn good this was and how much I want it again. So let's talk about some Çakır Bornova Misketi. But first, the winery.  Çakır Bağcılık ve Şarapçılık, is one of the newest members of the Urla Bağ Yolu (along with Perdix). The winery

  My fourth article for Turquazz is now live! What began as a celebration of Turkey's devotion to jazz and its own Anatolian music has developed into a full-blown exaltation of Anatolian music and culinary arts. "From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from Greece to the Iranian border – what is known as Anatolia has a lot to offer, not only a varied landscape but also a long history and multi-faceted culture. For certain, Anatolia is a place of endless stories once you explore its abundant riches. What we focus on today here are the contemporary approaches to this cultural mosaic that is Anatolian culture. There are two words

  My third article for Turquazz is now live! What began as a celebration of Turkey's devotion to jazz and its own Anatolian music has developed into a full-blown exaltation of Anatolian music and culinary arts. "From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from Greece to the Iranian border – what is known as Anatolia has a lot to offer, not only a varied landscape but also a long history and multi-faceted culture. For certain, Anatolia is a place of endless stories once you explore its abundant riches. What we focus on today here are the contemporary approaches to this cultural mosaic that is Anatolian culture. There are two words

  Sauvignon Blanc wines enjoy a huge amount of popularity in Turkey. It's right up there with Chardonnay. Generally if a winery makes one, it makes the other too. Because Turkey loves its oak there's plenty of "fumé blanc" floating around here as well. Happily (for me who doesn't love oak on white wine), winemakers have developed a more deft hand with their oak aging. Over the last few years we've seen a shift from wine that's been metaphorically beat over the head with stave and barrel to wine that's been gently caressed by it. Meaning I no longer have to approach every oaked white wine fear in my heart!

  To celebrate Earth Month, Gwendolyn the Wine Predator challenged the #Winophiles group to find a wine that celebrates "Loire's organic gardens." You can view her invitation here. Something like a quarter of Loire Valley vineyards are farmed organically. Considering the size of the valley, the number of wineries, and the vast array of grapes and wine styles there, that's pretty darn impressive! I have generally have trouble sourcing decent European wines in Turkey. I figured I could find a Sancerre though as Sauvignon Blanc enjoys huge popularity in Turkey. However, could I find an organic or sustainable wine? I really didn't think so. Imagine my delight when I learned

  In January, Esat bey, owner of La Cave in Cihangir, asked if I'd recently had the Kayra Vintage Boğazkere. It was his highest selling wine that month. Far (apparently) outstripping any other wine sales.  He gave me a bottle with the instructions to go home that evening, open it, and let him know what I thought. He would do the same.  I do not know who started the run on this wine but I hope that person creates more buying trends! It's been a while since I've had any Kayra and I forget sometimes how good their wine is. Particularly those in the Vintage and Versus lines. If you're

  Selefkia Wines is one of the few (well one of the two!) wineries based in southern Turkey's Mediterranean region of Mersin. The winery makes a number of wines from Turkish grapes but really focuses on the two regional grapes: Ak Üzüm and Patkara. White and black respectively, these underdog grapes appear in very few wines. really only Selefkia and its Mersin neighbor Tasheli use them at all. Patkara is at home on the slopes on the Taurus Mountains in the Çömelek and Karacaoğlan villages in Göksu Valley. It might be a valley but it's a heck of a high one. Turkey has a plethora of high elevation vineyards and

  This month I'm hosting the Wine Paired Weekend group's exploration of underrated European wine regions. You can read my invitation here. There are so many unexplored wine regions in Europe-even within the big three countries of France, Italy, and Spain so I asked the group to go out and find a region new to them or that they think should be given a little more love.  Whether you've written a post for the theme or not, join the #WinePW conversation on Saturday, April 10 at 11 am EST / 8 am CST by following the hashtag on Twitter. And don't forget to check out what the rest of the

  My second article for Turquazz is now live! What began as a celebration of Turkey's devotion to jazz and its own Anatolian music has developed into a full-blown exaltation of Anatolian music and culinary arts. "From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from Greece to the Iranian border – what is known as Anatolia has a lot to offer, not only a varied landscape but also a long history and multi-faceted culture. For certain, Anatolia is a place of endless stories once you explore its abundant riches. What we focus on today here are the contemporary approaches to this cultural mosaic that is Anatolian culture. There are two words