Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi eu nulla vehicula, sagittis tortor id, fermentum nunc. Donec gravida mi a condimentum rutrum. Praesent aliquet pellentesque nisi.
vino@elated-themes.com

July 2022

Home2022July

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Okay, well new-ish anyway. I first tried the İkidenizarası Bornova Misketi last fall when I saw their wines at La Cave in Cihangir. İkidenizarası is a new (again, new-ish) winery in the Urla district of the Aegean, Izmir region.  Between Two Seas İkidenizarası means "between two seas" and, while both of those seas are the Aegean, the winery does sit on the Urla peninsula putting it between two different sections of the Aegean. It's also conveniently located just a stone's throw from the Urla Bağevi Vineyard Hotel (one of my favorite places in Urla) in the Yağcilar village. In 1999, Serhat Akbay began experimenting with vines and making wine here. In due

By 4Red Wine, Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Several months ago, Midin Şarapçılık sent me a selection of wines from their new 2020 vintage. A friend introduced me to Midin last year. Since then, I visited them in May of 2021, got try try most of their 2019 wines, and wrote about them for last summer's Jancis Robinson writing competition. The winery is only on its second commercial vintage but, comparing the new wines they sent me to my 2019 notes, I can already see an improvement. Now I look forward to 2021 which they predict will be their best year yet. They admit they've made a few mistakes and stumbles along the way, but who doesn't

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Finding Hungarian sparkling wine in Budapest is as easy as hopping in a cab! Located along the Danube on the Buda side of the river lies the neighborhood of Budafolk, an historic center of wine production and cellars. In 1880,  a union of wine producing and bottling industries created a cellar network hollowed out of the limestone beneath the neighborhood. The cellar system, 25 kilometers in length and the largest in all of Europe, still exists earning the area the name “Cellar Town.” Today a number of wineries still have production facilities here, especially those focusing on sparkling wine production like Törley, Sauska, and Garamvári. While I was in

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  In 2021, Diren Winery celebrated the centennial of founder Mustafa Vasfi Diren's birth. It did it the only way this winery could; by releasing a reserve Narince: the Vasfi Diren 1921 Narince. Diren and Narince are so intertwined, it's almost difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Diren and Narince In the early 1940s, Tokat-born Mustafa Vasfi Diren attended the Bursa Agricultural Vocational School. While there he became increasingly convinced that the overall development of Turkey was dependent on agriculture. Coupled with the knowledge that Anatolia is the motherland of vitis vinifera grapes; his interest in viniculture grew. Diren spent the next 18 years learning about grape

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This March at Oenorama in Athens, my friend Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine and Chania Wine Tours introduced me to the best Vidiano not from Crete. And coming from Crete, she would know. I've had a few Vidiano wines in the past. They've been nice but never done much of anything for me. But I will willingly go where Anna Maria leads so I followed her to the Oenops Wines table where I tasted the best Vidiano not from Crete. Oenops Wines Nikos Karatzas founded Oenops Wines in 2015. While his winery sits in Drama in the eastern part of Macedonia, his grapes come from everywhere. Karatzas tours Greece looking

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  If you're looking for the perfect wine for this summer, I've got it for you: Gürbüz Mood (the white one!). Trakya-based winemaker Akın Gürbüz offers the Mood series (white, rosé, and red) as his entry level wines. Uncomplicated but delicious, these are fantastic and fruity wines that won't break the bank. For the Gürbüz Mood white, he blended together Sauvignon Blanc and Misket for a delightful fruity and easy wine to enjoy on its own or pair with your favorite light summer meals. I first came across this wine last year and have already enjoyed it again this summer. Regardless of which vintage you might come across, you're

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  It's summer. It's hot. Unless of course you live in the southern hemisphere but, if you do, you're probably dreaming of summer now! These days, most of us are probably reaching for a cold white or rosé wine or even a light-bodied, chilled red wine. But pairing wine with a meal? Cooking?! What's that in this heat. Forget about it! This weekend, the #WinePW crew will be talking about their favorite way to beat the heat: Linda from My Full Wine Glass has invited us to share our favorite summertime wine and easy bites. You can read her invitation here. Whether or not you wrote a blog post for

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The Nif Bağları Aegean beyaz is not a new wine from Nif. They've been producing the Aegean series for several years now with white, rosé, and red blends. Always palatable in the past but nothing to get overly excited about. Then last year, Nif changed its blend. Whereas in the past the wine blended Viognier and Narince, for 2020, the winery added Solaris. My humble opinion, a much nicer blend! Nif has not abandoned the idea of a Viognier - Narince blend though. Rather, they've elevated it to the eponymous Nif Serisi level. But there will be more about that another time! Nif Bağları Aegean Beyaz, 2020 Unfortunately, I do not have

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Way back when I first visited Antioche in Hatay, they told me that one of the grapes they grew was Barburi Blanc. I was already familiar with Barburi from their wines. Antioche uses it in two varietal dry wines, in a red blend, and as a semi-sweet wine. But Barburi Blanc? Fast-forward several years now and the Barburi Blanc has arrived! This is no blanc de noir like the blanc de noir Papazkarası craze that's hit the country. This is a white version of the Barburi that we know and love. It could also be your new favorite summer white. Antioche Barburi Blanc de Blancs, 2021 Cool, pale lemon shot through