When you think of sparkling wine, which countries pop into mind? Probably France, Italy, Spain? Maybe Germany, Australia, or the UK? Something I have learned since I started exploring wine is that if a country makes wine, it probably also makes sparkling wine! France, Italy, Spain, the US, the UK, Germany
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I recently came back from a trip to Crete. My first time on the island, in fact my first time in ages outside of Athens. I met E&M there for M's 40th birthday. But bonus! I also got to meet up with my awesome friend Anna Maria of Unraveling Wine and Chania Wine Tours! We spent the week there in what, apparently, was some of the worst weather they've had in years. Pouring buckets of rain, what felt like gale force winds, and a 5.8 earthquake. We got rained out of several activities and/or things were closed for the season. But, a few nice moments with blue skies allowed
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Goodbye 2021, hello 2022! Last year wasn't so bad
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Barel Bağları Gamay joins the (albeit limited) ranks of Turkish Gamays. Why this grape has suddenly become so popular is mystery - to me at least. But with at least five wineries suddenly released varietal wines or Gamay blends, it seems to taking off. Barel Bağları Barel Bağları was founded in 1997 with the aim of adding a little bit more taste to the life by the Akın family. While Barel’s name comes from the names of two siblings Elif and Barkın Akın brothers; the winery is in the hands of youngest of the Akıns, Barkın. The Akın family made their own wine for family and friends years before they officially
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Summer red-wine drinkers meet your new best friend, Fersun! Fersun (fehr-soon) is a recently rescued from extinction native Turkish grape. Grown exclusively by Likya Şarapları, (who also did the rescuing), not a great deal is known yet about Fersun’s ampelographic background. But it does seem to be native to Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya. This pale, purple-red grape creates light to medium bodied wines redolent of pomegranate, blackberry, strawberry, black currant leaf, tomato leaf, bay leaf, black tea, black pepper, and violet. Low in tannin and with medium acidity, its wines are perfect to drink lightly chilled. Food Pairing For as much as we don’t know about the origins of this wine,
Read MoreIf you've never visited my site or seen me on social media, you may not know that I spent four + years writing a book. But I did. And The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine is finally finished, printed, and available for sale!* But that's not entirely what this post is about. I recently met Lisa Morrow. If you don't know who she is but you're at all intrigued by Turkey, you need to know her. She's been here for ages now and has written several books about seeing Turkey through an expat's eyes as well as maintaining her own blog: Inside Out In Istanbul. Meeting her has opened
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I realized some time ago that I'd not reviewed the Sevilen Plato Öküzgözü, nor in fact any of Sevilen's Plato wines. Now, with Sevilen debuting a new Plato Narince (cannot wait to get a bottle!) I thought it's about time I got around to doing it. In the spring I opened two different wines from this series, the Kalecik Karası and Öküzgözü. Going to tackle the Öküzgözü here since I seem to be on an Öküzgözü roll lately! While Öküzgözü originates in Elazığ in Turkey's north east, Sevilen's vineyards are located in Denizli in the inner Aegean. While much of Denizli sits at pretty high elevations, the overall climate
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Most people, including many wine enthusiasts, have not heard of many (or any) of Turkey’s grape varieties. While Turkey shares some native grapes with its geographic neighbors, the majority are endemic to the country. There’s no Narince in California. No Öküzgözü in South Africa. Nor is there any Kalecik Karası in New Zealand
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Located a little over an hour's flight from Istanbul, Cappadocia is the jewel of central Turkey. Its surreal "fairy chimney" rock formations, hot air balloon tourism, and network of underground cities and cave churches has made it one of the country's top attractions—for good reason. Just as impressive but far less known, however, is the region’s history as an important wine center that predates Christianity and where some of the world’s first viticultural legislation was introduced. Today, Cappadocian producers draw on this rich history to produce interesting, complex wines that spotlight ancient native (and foreign) grapes. In Cappadocia, evidence of grape and wine production dates back to at least
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This year, I get the honor of kicking of the #WinePW 2022 calendar with a celebration of bubbles from around the world! For this month's theme, it does not matter if your bubbles are traditional method, tank method, or otherwise. If it fizzes it's fair game! Stick to a classic like Champagne, Franciacorta, Prosecco, or Cava
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