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December 2022

Home2022

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  If a Cabernet Shiraz blend from Akın Gürbüz has a hint of deja vous about it for you, you wouldn't be wrong. The Gürbüz Blend #1 also contains both Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. If I recall correctly the story (which I hope I do!). Blend #1 was, as the name might indicate, the first blend he made. Later, after completing and bottling the blend, Akın repeated the blend. However, it was a separate batch from the first blend. As such, he did not feel comfortable bottling it under the same name because, to him, it was not the same thing and he didn't want to deceive anyone. If

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  When possible, I like to visit a Christmas market somewhere in Europe during Advent. We don't get a lot of Christmas in Turkey as one might suspect. This year was Colmar and past trips have included Graz (specifically for the Krapus Lauf), Prague, London, and Ljubljana. And that is where I got this particular bottle of Batič Angel Belo. As far as Christmas markets went, Ljubljana's disappointed. But the city, food, and wine did not! Located in Vipava, Primorje not so very far from the Italian border, the first Batič wines were born in the 16th century. Here, the monks of the Batič estate in Šempas made communion wine.

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  While I've written about it a number of times now, Patkara is still something of an emerging grape in Turkey. The first glimpse we had of it was a handful of years ago from Urla Şarapçılık. In association with Anatolian grape expert Umay Çeviker and Tasheli, it was part of a limited release "Discovery" series. Why it remains relatively obscure has nothing to do with the grape's quality or suitability for wine production, and more to the fact that it's a highly localized grape grown where wineries are scarce. In fact, only two small, family-run wineries are dedicated to it: Tasheli and Selefkia. Patkara is at home on the

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I'm not going to go into my rant about "natural" wine and why it offends me. Been there, done that. So if I've already bought the ticket to that show and walked out of the theater, why am I buying it? That's a good question. The 'why' in this case comes down to the fact that I trust Barbare to bottle a good wine, regardless of what they did (or didn't do) to it before the cork went in. Nötr in Turkish means "neutral", "minimal", "subtle".  Made with organic grapes, fermented with ambient yeast, and no sulfites added prior to bottling, the Barbare Nötr Merlot seems to follow the

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  [caption id="attachment_18442" align="alignleft" width="300"] As it first looked[/caption] I first learned about the Sobran Bağları Emir at one of the Gusto Bar wine events in Istanbul. It's appearance at the event was remarkable for several reasons but the most eye-catching was the wine's color. It appeared a very pale pink! With the intention of both drinking it myself and using it in wine tastings, I contacted the winery and ordered half a case. The wine duly arrived but, when I opened the box, I did not see the pale pink wine I remembered. The wine shone a bright yellow. I reached out to ask if there had been a mistake

By 2Articles, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  It's December! The winter solstice is around the corner but, even more exciting, Christmas! My tree is up! Is yours? Especially in light of the tragedy we all faced in Istanbul last month, it's more important than ever that we embrace this season of kindness, generosity, and giving.  Those three wise mandates (haha see what I did there?) should most certainly be how we act towards others, but also to ourselves. Be kind to yourself

By 2Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Over the winter I met some of the family behind new Çal-based winery, Kuzubağ. Historically, the wineries located on the Denizli-Çal plateau have produced more bulk, lower-quality wines. Kuzubağ is one of the new wineries here that want to change that image. One of the ways they're doing it is to emphasize the local grape, Çalkarası.  The winery's vineyards sit at an elevation of 850 meters in clay-loam and calcareous soil. Given the elevation, there's a great difference between day and night temperatures allowing grapes to ripen over a longer period while retaining their freshness. Here they grow not only Çalkarası, but also Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, Narince, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  The

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Lucien Arkas began his path to winery ownership as a wine lover with a dream. And a lot of money. In 2010 when the floundering İdol Wines company went for sale, he snapped it up and began to turn it into a successful business. LA Wines (or LA Şarapçılık or Lucien Arkas Bağları or LA Mahzen you'll see it all ways) sits within the boundaries of the city of Izmir in Torbalı. Despite being surrounded by industrial complexes, Arkas managed to get organic certification for his 29 hectares from Ecocert. He also built a beautiful restaurant and event space overlooking the vineyards which helped solidify the new winery's