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March 2025

  Since my last post had me mourning my inability to travel this spring and waxing lyrical about last year's March trip to Bologna, it seemed only fair I should also remember fondly a domestic trip from last March: Mudurnu.  Mudurnu is a deep-rooted historic town located in the western Black Sea, in the province of Bolu. A historic guild town situated on the Silk Road, it was an important center of trade, crafts, and culture in the early Ottoman period.  [easy-image-collage id=21175] Nestled in the Mudurnu Stream valley, the town stretches between the rocky and forested hills of the Abant Mountains to the northeast, the Kocaman Mountains in the southwest, and

  This post contains affiliate links I am semi-recently unemployed and poor. One of my cost-saving methods (aside from no longer buying wine like it's going out of style) is to cease traveling, which is depressing. Especially since quick and easy access to Europe is a good third of the reason I put up with living in Istanbul. Nowadays though, my travel takes place mostly in memory. [easy-image-collage id=21131] This time last year, I enjoyed a few days in Modena and Bologna. If only I could be there now!  Bologna After arriving in Bologna, I did a quick little walk around the center to orient myself before heading off to complete my first mission:

  Turkey and Australia both being what they are, this will merely be the first of many Turkey vs Australia Shiraz taste offs! Shiraz (or Syrah, both names are used here) is massively popular in Turkey. Despite the preponderance of imitation Bordeaux blends, Shiraz is the most planted of any international grape. At least as of the last numbers I saw. Varietal Shiraz is the most common, but it also appears in blends. Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blends have gained a lot of popularity here. It sneaks into what would otherwise be a Bordeaux blend. And one producer, Kayra, is even doing a traditional Côte Rôtie-style Syrah-Viognier blend. So, there's a lot of

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. This March, to celebrate International Women's Day, Camilla from Culinary Cam invited those of us in the Wine Pairing Weekend writers to look at women in wine. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of some of these women, in this piece I wrote for Vintner Project. The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field.

  March brings any number of key days with which to mark the month. Fat Tuesday this year is the 4th. The 20th is the first day of spring. And on the 8th we celebrate International Women's Day. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of these women, in this piece I wrote for the Vintner Project. The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field. To celebrate these remarkable women,