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By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Hidden away in the unwelcoming landscape of Turkey's north-eastern Aegean are the organic vineyards of Selendi Şarapları. The arid heat of Akhısar is not where one would expect to find the native Narince grape. This thin-skinned, delicate white grape hails from Turkey's Black Sea region where it thrives in the area's 1500+ meter elevations and mild, oceanic climate. And yet, it is exactly in this dry heat where the winery grows the grapes for its Selendi Moralı Narince. A combination of stony, loamy clay, and limestone soils make up Selendi's Moralı vineyard where they grow Narince at 850 meters. Narince may have its roots buried more deeply in the wet

By 1European Wines, Rest of the World, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  These are odd times. You don't need me to tell you that. Social distancing, self-isolation, working from home etc have all led to an explosion of online activities. My two bbfs in Istanbul and I have a weekly happy hour on House Party. Wine tastings have gone virtual on YouTube, Zoom, Instagram, and other platforms. For me, life hasn't change a great deal since all this began. I already work from home. I have an abiding dislike of people generally and really only leave my apartment a few times a week anyway. What I do miss, is Mass. My church has discovered Zoom (and don't get me started

By 2American Wines, Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  For this month's Wine Pairing Weekend, Nicole at Somm's Table invited us to write about wines from the ancient world. People often forget to include Turkey, which in fact is the home of the vitis vinifera grape, when talking about ancient and old world wine cultures. In fact though, it has one of the most ancient of wine cultures. When Christians hear the name, Antioch, it evokes images if Saints Peter and Paul preaching the Good News to early Christians. Historians may muse on the lives of early civilizations like the Hittites and those that came before. Modern Turks (and the rest of us who live here!) think of

By 0Red Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  Located over a two and a half hour drive from Lebanon's storied Bekaa Valley, Gaston Hochar established Chateau Musar in 1930. While the winery may not be in the Bekaa Valley, the vineyards are. Organic since 2006, Musar vineyards are managed with minimal human interference and all the wines are made naturally. Chateau Musar creates three series of wine. The top series, Chateau Musar, includes a red, rosé, and white. Next comes the Hochar Père et Fils Red, and finally the Musar Jeune series (red, rosé, and white). The Hochar Père et Fils Red, from which I somehow got my hands on, is sometimes referred to as the ‘second wine’

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Akın Gürbüz grew up among grape vines. In his childhood he worked the harvest in his family's vineyards. They did not make wine but sold the grapes to some of Turkey's larger wineries. It was not until later in life that Gürbüz developed a love for wine. It was an introduction that not only began a love affair with wine but that would put him on his path. After studying at UC Davis, working in California and News Zealand-based wineries, Tekirdağ-based winery Barbare brought him back to Turkey. Working at Barbare opened a new chapter for Gürbüz. He became a winemaking consultant for some of Turkey’s premiere boutique and small

By 0Amber Wine, Amphora, Articles, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The twenty-first century may still be fairly young but the wine world has already been rocked by a movement as big as it is controversial. Natural wine. While winemakers in several countries could argue that this is hardly new; much of the west treats it like a spanking new phenomenon. As we see natural wines popping up all over it seems to be a case of ‘better late than never.’ And now, the latest country to jump on the bandwagon is one of the oldest winemaking countries: Turkey. Where then, does Turkey enter this picture? Over the last 15 years in particular the wine industry in Turkey has leapt

By 2Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Müteşekkir is a new line from Chamlija, featuring a Pinot Noir, a red blend, and a white blend. Despite being an entry level wine (where I find many wineries slack off a bit) these show Chamlija's dedication to quality. Priced at about 55-60 TL (right around $10) this line offers a decent quality/price balance and a kicky little label. "Müteşekkir" means "thankful or grateful" in Turkish. Which I suppose we are that for decent wines at a decent price! That is something of a unicorn in Turkey. Chamlija Müteşekkir Blend 2015 Tasting Notes The Müteşekkir red blend combined Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot aged for 12 months in French

By 2European Wines, Rest of the World, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Living in Turkey I'm pretty well accustomed to outsiders' surprise that this is a winemaking country. Every once in a while, I get treated to the same surprise about other countries. One semi recent example involved Ukraine and the Shabo Wine Company. I still have not visited Ukraine myself but received this bottle courtesy of a friend who transited through Kyiv. In 1822 Swiss immigrants established the Shabo Wine Company, based in the town of the same name  in Odessa. Between 1882 and the founding of the modern Shabo Wine Company in 2003, the winery saw a lot of history roll by including Ottoman and Soviet invasions. And while

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Named for its elevation on the Güney Plateau, Sevilen’s 900 series includes three wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Fumé Blanc, and Petit Verdot. At 900 meters elevation on the plateau, Sevilen’s vineyards experience a large diurnal swing allowing grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness while retaining good levels of acidity. For that reason, these vineyards make some of the winery’s top quality wines. I love Petit Verdot. I’m pretty sure I’ve had every varietal (and most of the blends) Petit Verdot wines in Turkey. Generally I don’t like to say if I have favorites of anything but I can’t not admit that this has been my absolute favorite Petit Verdot. Sevilen 900 Petit

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Suvla Wines, on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula offers a huge range of wines. Currently the winery produces some 12 or 13 series. Many wines, like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Karasakız, and Yapıncak feature across multiple series which gives consumers the chance to compare single grapes across quality levels.  Unfortunately, the Cabernet Franc comes only at the Reserve level. A real pity as I would love to make a comparison tasting. Suvla Reserve Cabernet Franc 2015 Tasting Notes There's a lot of 'medium' happening with this wine: medium alcohol (13.5%), medium-bodied, medium (plus) acidity, a medium ruby color