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.

March 2026

Home2026 (Page 2)

  How I've never posted about this wine before is really beyond me. Sometimes, something is so obvious that you just assume you did it. Better late than never! When people think about island wines, minds reach out to Greece, the Canary Islands, Italy. As much as 'wine' and 'Turkey' rarely enter people's thoughts at the same time, 'island wines' and 'Turkey' cross paths even more rarely. And yet, Turkey has islands and they produce wine. Wines from Avşa often get overlooked and little makes it off Gökçeada, but Bozcaada is a different story. While rarely explored in depth, Turkish island wines have made a name for themselves locally. Much of that

  Another piece published on Winetraveler! Turkey Wine Guide: Discover Turkish Wine & Regions Most people picture Turkey as a land of vibrant bazaars, layered history, and turquoise coastlines. Few realize it is also one of the world’s oldest but most misunderstood wine countries. Grape cultivation traces its beginnings to eastern Anatolia, and wine has been made here since before history was recorded. Hittites, Assyrians, Phrygians, and other ancient civilizations made their mark on wine long before Greeks and Romans inhabited the country’s vineyards. Here like nowhere else cultures, terroir, and a treasure trove of native grapes blend to create a grand coupage. Producing high-quality wines almost entirely consumed domestically, Turkish vineyards remain

  I am so happy to have my first piece published in Winetraveler! Turkey Makes Wine? Here’s Why You’ve Probably Never Tried It Turkey elicits images of minarets, fezes, kebab, and endless glasses of tea. Visitors have long flocked to Istanbul and beyond to explore the country’s ancient ruins, sandy beaches, and stunning countryside. One thing that many people miss is its wine. Despite being one of the oldest wine producing countries on earth, few have discovered the wines or even had a chance to try them–here’s why. Turkey Doesn't Really Export Its Wine While many think Turkey might be too hot for vines, the truth is that heat is tempered by sometimes

  Sparkling wine is almost universally associated with celebrations. Yes, bubbly wine is a happy drink and happy drinks are great for celebrations, but that's not why the association. It is largely due to how expensive sparkling wine tends to be. People generally, therefore, save it for special occasions. Why is sparkling wine so expensive? How are sparkling wines made? Let's pop a cork and get into it! This post ended up being way longer than I expected. So, I'm trying for the first time to add a table of contents.  Table of Contents Everything You Need to Know about Sparkling Wine Traditional Method Sparkling Wine Martinotti Method Sparkling Wine Ancestral

  While most of my focus is in Turkish wines, it's nice to sometimes walk in the vineyards of our neighbors. Metaphorically speaking of course. I've yet to visit Romania at all let alone its vineyards. But that's one of the great things about wine. Opening a bottle is like opening a magic door through which you can step and discover new worlds. Maybe you've never been to that region, or even that country, but wine lets you taste what you cannot see.  For me, one of those recent journeys too me to Romania and to the discovery of one of the country's native grapes, Fetească Neagră. Fetească Neagră [caption id="attachment_22440" align="alignright" width="350"]

  With the up and down weather this winter, there's no way to predict if spring will come in like a lamb or a lion. Regardless which animal the season decides to imitate, personally, I just hope it sticks to the one personality. They say spring is not for the faint-hearted, so we need to gird our loins, grab a good bottle, and prepare for the battle.   What does this month have in store for each of us? Read on to find out! If you're not somewhere with easy access to Turkish wine, don't hesitate to reach out (to me, the universe doesn't always respond to email) for alternative recommendations. Aries (March

  While there are plenty of Shiraz notes from both Turkey and Australia waiting to be written up, I wanted to shake things up a bit. Australia has been gaining a reputation for Viognier over the years while it's still largely unknown in Turkey. Despite its rarity in Turkey, we have some excellent examples here. Since I just happened to have a bottle of Viognier from Australia, why not pit them against one another? Viognier Viognier it seems is a bit of a struggle to work with. Not in a Pinot Noir prima donna way, but it is not disposed to producing healthy or bountiful grapes and is prone to coulure (uneven

  We've had some rather chilly days lately in Istanbul. I should be neither surprised nor resentful. It is, after all, winter. Just because we've had ridiculously warm winters for the last several years and I've largely managed to avoid turning on my heat doesn't mean things will always be so. While I don't love it, the cold weather does encourage me to reach for one of the many, many red wines languishing in my wine room.  If you want to wrap yourself in a cozy red wine, perfect for cold winter weather and drinking by the fireplace, look for a bottle from the Goumenissa PDO.  Goumenissa PDO (ΠΟΠ Γουμένισσα) The what

  My adventures with Turkish wine importer, Fine Turkish Wine, continue! Well at least the writing of them does, the adventures themselves ended in November. And it's taking ever so much longer to write about these visits than it took to make them! After two days in Trakya (aka Thrace), visiting first Arcadia, then Arda and Gürbüz Winery we headed for the Aegean. In this region, our first stop was Kuzubağ, and then we were on to Heraki. And buckle up, this post turned out much longer than I anticipated! [caption id="attachment_22367" align="alignright" width="500"] Çal vineyards by Rob İçsezen[/caption] Heraki Heraki Wines is, at its heart, a love story. First between its founders,