The Gordias Kalecik Karası Beyazı was one of the standout wine surprises I found this spring. I think it's been around for a while but Canan's wines aren't always easy to find. The first time I tried it was this past May's CMC event and it was love at first sip. She's billing the wine as "Beyazı" (white) but it's really a very very pale rosé. Kayra also makes a similar wine, the Allure Kalecik Karası Beyaz. White, pink, purple, blue
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Do you love sparkling wine? I do. I'm always happy to try any of them (and generally even happier to drink them). Finding new sparkling wine to drink is one of the many fun things about learning about wine regions. On a semi-recent trip to Athens, I discovered a new bottle of bubbles thanks to one of my favorite wine shops (Alpha Sigma in Syntagma): Theopetra Estate Edenia Rosé. We don't hear a lot about Limniona but I have really enjoyed the few I've had. So when I saw this Limniona sparkling wine, I couldn't not buy it. The grape comes from Thessaly in north-central Greece. It's undergoing something
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For years, Kastro Tireli has made one white wine: a Viognier Narince blend. Then they added a skin contact version of the same blend. Fast-forward to this year. Kastro Tireli released three new white wines: varietal reserve Narince and Viognier and an off-dry Viognier. Limited availability, I've only seen them at a few places (namely Casa Botti and Santé Wine & More) and a little scary expensive. Especially the off-dry. But I had to pull the trigger on the Narince because I've always been curious as to what a 100% Narince from them would taste like. Kastro Tireli Narince Reserve, 2019 What makes this "reserve"? Since there were no winemaking notes
Read MoreHave you had wine from Kefalonia? If the answer is 'no' then you should try to change that ASAP! I haven't yet been to the island but it is so on my list (right after Paros). And Sarris Winery and the Sarris V for Vostilidi are two of the big reasons why. Kefalonia (or Cephalonia if you prefer) is one of Greece's Ionian islands. Not just one of actually, it's the largest. It is also home to an ancient wine culture - mentioned in Homer's The Odyssey no less - with not just one but three PDO-level appellations. The island's main claim to wine fame is the grape Robola.
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Büyülübağ owner Alp Törüner experimented with micro vinifications of wild fermentations for a few years before releasing his first commercial bottling in 2015. While perhaps not the first such wine on the market, the Büyülübağ Wild Ferment Cabernet Sauvignon was the first wine to label itself a 'wild ferment'. Törüner feels a deep connection with Cabernet Sauvignon. Two of his aunts (by marriage) are French and they brought a lot of their culture into the family, including the practice of drinking wine with meals. He first visited France when he was 11-12 years old and even at that early age was captured by the country and wine. The grapes for
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Happy autumn! I'm so glad we're in cooler weather now. It's almost time to break out the cozy sweaters and remember where I stored all my socks. It's also time that I get back to drinking red wine. Speaking of which
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Some time ago, I wrote a little compilation of Moschofilero tasting notes. My great friend Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine not so subtly commented that I hadn't been drinking the best Moschofilero and suggested I try Troupis Fteri (which I had) and Bosinakis. And when Unravelling Wine tells you to do something, you do it! Bosinakis Winery - Οινοποιία Μποσινάκης Bosinakis Winery is run by the young Sotiris and Katerina Bosinakis. The couple has produced wine since 1992 but it wasn't until 2009 that they entered the bottled wine industry. Still producing at boutique levels, today their PDO Mantineia is one of the most popular Moschofileros on the market. The couple's
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Over the last two vintages, the Vino Dessera Entrika line has expanded both its offerings and its reach across Turkey. For the 2020 vintage, Vino Dessera debuted its Entrika Emir and the Entrika Narince for the 2021 vintage. Itself based in Kırklareli in Thrace, Vino Dessera's own vineyards grow a variety of (mostly international) grapes. The winery has long sourced native varieties from their respective "homelands": Öküzgözü from Elazığ, Çalkarası from Denizli, etc. With a combination of grape sources, how do you know where they're from? Check the graphic on the back label! Vino Dessera's wines include a small map of Turkey that pinpoints the grapes' origin. Vino Dessera
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Summer isn't over quite yet! We're having some cooler days (which I quite appreciate!) but also still seeing spikes into the 30s. On those days, a nice rosé liked the Uçmakdere Cinsault Roze helps chase a way the heat! Uçmakdere winery sits right at the edge of the Sea of Marmara in the same-named village in Şarköy. It's one of a few remaining wineries from 19th century that opened onto the water to allow the easy loading of wine onto ships for transport. A family-owned winery where daughter Işıl Bulutsuz makes the wines. At the moment they're heavily focused on international varieties. However, last year Işıl teased that we
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Last fall when I visited Likya, they told me about a new rosé they were trying to release: Fox. Made from a new (for us) grape called Tilki Kuyruğu, which means "fox tail" the winery wanted to call their wine Likya Fox. This simple action sparked a lawsuit. But before that story, the grape. Rather than the bog standard "black from somewhere" (i.e. all the grapes here that are something kara), Tilki Kuyruğu has a fun name. It means, as I mentioned above, fox tail. Named because the bunches are quite large with several cascading lobes that thin out at the bottom creating a fox tail-looking bunch. Elsewhere in
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