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May 2022

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By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last year I received a tasting set of Riedel Winewings from their Turkish importer KTD. One glass each for Sauvingon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I use one every time I open one of those grapes, or a Turkish grape with similar properties. But it was not until I opened a bottle of Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay that I really put them to the test! An experiment in glassware Georg Riedel created the Riedel Winewings collection in order to maximize the qualities of these particular grapes. From the Riedel website: We chose a flat and stretched bottom, with a wing-like shape to increase the surface area between wine and

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

  What do you get when a popular wine bar and a great winery form a partnership? A whole mess of new wines, that's what! New wines like the Arda Kuşlu Solera Misket. Arda and Solera Solera is one of the longest-lived and successful wine bars in Istanbul. It also happens to be my local! So I have a soft spot for it and for owner Süleyman Er. Imagine my delight to learn that that for some years now he's been cultivating his own vineyards. Süleyman has made some progress towards renovating a 100 year winery on the shores of the Sea of Marmara as well. But for the time being,

By 0Red Wine, South American Wines, Wine Reviews

  Several months back I met a lovely new wine friend. Here in Turkey on vacation with her (equally lovely) mother, she got in touch with me on Instagram. I love wine Instagram! We got together so I could show her some of my favorite Turkish wines. In turn, she, from Argentina where she's an up and coming winemaker, brought me three beautiful Argentinean Malbecs. I have had and enjoyed not a few Argentinean Malbecs in my life. But this was the first time I was able to compare three wines from three regions and three completely different elevations. Such fun. Zuccardi Q Malbec, 2019 Perhaps one of the most famous Argentinean

By 0Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last year, we thrilled at Paşaeli's release of four pét-nats. This year, one more joins Paşaeli's - the Arcadia Sauvingon Gris Pét-Nat. I've seen it in several shops now, but the first place (with so far the best price to boot) was at Casa Botti in Göztepe.  Sauvignon Gris Sauvignon Gris is a pink-berried mutation of Sauvignon Blanc. It is not, if you wondered, a common grape in Turkey. Of Sauvignon Blanc we have a seemingly never ending supply. But only the Thrace-based winery Arcadia grows Sauvignon Gris. Arcadia produces several wines with this grape including a blend with Sauvignon Blanc and a blend with Pinot Gris. Arcadia Sauvignon Gris Pét-Nat

By 0White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I recently-ish wrote a post about some of the Malagousia wines I've enjoyed. I somehow left out the Ktima Zafeirakis Malagousia. Which is crazy since this is quickly becoming one of my favorite Greek wineries with things like its Limnioa, and "Little Bear" white blend. Making wine in the PGI Tyrnavos area of Thessaly, Ktmia Zafeirakis is a Biohellas-certified organic farming, family-run winery. The winery makes several wines with Malagousia grown in sandy0clay soils with lots of flint. Malagousia appears in varietal and blends for Zafeirakis and this was one of the winery's varietal bottlings, aged three to four months in the tank before bottling. Ktima Zafeirakis Malagousia, 2019 Warm,

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

  Recently I wrote a post about (some of) the best Turkish Pinot Noirs. I left out two wines on purpose, the Ayda Bağları Pinot Noir and Rosé. These two deserved to be tackled separately. Ayda Bağları  After a few years of hobby winemaking, Ayda Kargılı Kalelioğlu and her husband Uğur Kalelioğlu decided to go commercial. Ayda, a dentist by training, had been making wine with the trial and error method. But when the pair decided to ramp up their operations, she pursued an oenology certification in France which she received in 2008. Now, Ayda and Uğur are proud to be a boutique winery. Their capacity is roughly 14,400 bottles a

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Another new-ish winery to emerge in Turkey over the last few years is Taneanda. This Thrace-based winery has put out three vintages thus far, all based on Caladoc. According to the winery's website, founder Metin İlhan based the name on the local Thracian dialect meaning something along the lines of "there?" or "what's there?". An expression that would also be accompanied by pointing the index finger to indicate a specific place. He chose this as the winery's name because he vines, which surround the winery, sit on a hilltop and are visible from afar. Caladoc is not a grape we hear about a lot in Turkey. Probably it's not really

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  I am so excited to post another article about the book! Several years ago, I wrote a piece, Grape Expectations, for Culinary Backstreets. And now I'm featured on their site! The local buzz about the book makes me so happy and I feel very grateful. CB Book Club: Andrea Lemieux's The Essential Guide To Turkish Wines For this week’s CB Book Club installment, we caught up with Andrea Lemieux, author of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine: An exploration of one of the oldest and most unexpected wine countries (Canoe Tree Press, 2021). In this exhaustive nearly 300-page guide, Lemieux, a WSET Level 2-certified wine expert and blogger behind The

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

  I don't know about you, but I have been thrilled with our weather the last week or two of April! I'm not ready yet for summer so I hope it holds steady. My seeds are all planted (some are even sprouting, huzzah!) and I look forward to chilling on the balcony with my plants, my cats, and some nice wine. What will you be drinking in May? Read on and find out what your horoscope suggests! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Along with the flowers I planted on my balcony, your growth and maturity are blossoming. The last few years have thrown more than a few challenges your way but