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  Did you participate in dry January? I surely did not! If you did though, I'll be you're really ready for a little tipple! In which case, I've got you covered. What does your horoscope say you should try drinking in February? Read on and find out! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) When was the last time you felt entirely like yourself? Do you even remember what that feels like? Use this month to try to reconnect to that feeling. Maybe it means changing up your style, hunting down a friend you haven't seen in years, or resurrecting a childhood dream. You may also find this month that you're having difficulty finding

  Foça Karası, a nearly extinct grape from Izmir’s Foça district, is currently championed by only a few wineries, namely Öküzgözü Şarapçılık. Foça Karası (foe-cha ka-ra-sih) berries are small to medium in size and slightly elongated with thick skin. They grow in kind of loose, single-lobed, medium-sized bunches. It’s a mid-ripening grape that makes aromatic wines full of sour cherry, strawberry, prune, clove, black pepper, dill, black currant leaf, and licorice. While in Turkey this grape follows the "black of" naming pattern, this grape also goes by another name: Fokiano. While we know it as Foça Karası in Turkey, in Greece Fokiano (Φωκιανό) grows mainly on the Aegean islands (and a

  One of the world’s first empires, the Assyrian Empire (circa 2500 BC - 609 BC) spanned the periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age. Their empire covered vast territory including areas of modern day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. In addition to being a great military power, the Assyrians were talented artists (particularly sculpture and jewelry making), astronomers, and were believed to use technology like telescopes and magnifying glasses. They were also great lovers of wine. [caption id="attachment_16265" align="alignright" width="352"] 60+ year old Kerküş vine[/caption] During their heyday, records from their time show the expansive planting of vines, especially around Nineveh in Turkey’s

  Katarina Andersson of Grapevine Adventures wears many hats. She is a historian (Ph.D. in history from EUs European University Institute in Florence!), wine writer, wine educator, live streamer, content writer, digital marketing strategist for wineries, and a translator. I knew Katarina through her blog and Twitter. Then last year she reached out to ask if I'd be interested in taking part in Radici del Sud. Unfortunately, in the end I wasn't able to go due to pandemic travel restrictions. And enviously followed Katarina's posts about the event! Happily, when she reached out to ask if I'd like to appear on her livestream to talk about my new book, we

  In September Lori Budd of Exploring the Wineglass and Dracaena Wines reached out to me and asked if I'd be interested in being a guest on her podcast Winefabet Street. Obviously! Lori shares the Winefabet Street podcast with Debbie Gioquindo, the Hudson Valley Wine Goddess. I'd "met" Lori before. She's kindly had me as a guest on her her Exploring the Wineglass podcast previously. I've also done a guest post for her blog about Natural Wine in Turkey. But this was my first time meeting Debbie and as a long-time follower of her blog I was thrilled to get to talk with her. Even if it was at 2

  I've been a little neglectful of my wine bar reviews of late. November and December were insane! Hopefully with the new year things will calm down a bit and I can really dig back into things. I'm starting the year with a wine bar review of Beyoğlu Şaraphanesi. Tucked away in the warren of bars that is Asmalı Mescit, Beyoğlu Şaraphanesi is like a calm oasis of class and excellent wine. The French bistro-style façade opens into a long gallery warm, exposed brick walls and warm lighting gleaming off shining glassware. One of the things I love about the place is the mix of brick, stone, stained glass, and

  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,

  If 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

  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