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European Wines

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By 0European Wines, Red Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This past summer, I took a trip I've been wanting to make for a few years now: Sofia. Bulgaria may not be on the top of everyone's travel wish list (although it should be, it's beautiful!) but it's been on mine for a while now. Why? Wine, naturally! I've heard great things about Bulgarian wine and two years ago, Shoyu Sugar brought back an amazing Riesling pét-nat that cemented my desire to explore the country's wine scene.  [easy-image-collage id=20618] As I've only been to Bulgaria once before and wanted to do at least one non wine activity. In the end, I settled on a day

By 0Articles, European Wines, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  For my birthday in August, my friend Malia of Shoyu Sugar made SPAM musubis for me!! I remember eating SPAM a bit when I was a kid. My mom mixed ground SPAM with American cheese and white onions and we made hot sandwiches with it. I actually really kind of liked it. But it wasn't until I had Malia's musubis that I understood what kind of magic you can make with this meat.  I won't go into the history of SPAM or how deeply embedded it is in Hawaiian culture. Suffice to say, SPAM musubis are a common snack food in Hawaii. When she can get the ingredients, Malia

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I get very little Croatian wine where I am but have enjoyed (as far as I recall!) every one that I've got my hands on. The Saints Hills St Ante Posh was certainly one to enjoy!  Owner Ernest Tolj established his Saints Hills winery, as he says, " but a stone’s throw away from Dubrovnik, and two from Diocletian’s Palace in Split and Vespasian’s Amphitheater in Pula." A romantic description to be sure. But for clarity's sake

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Wine Reviews

  Crete is an amazing place to visit, for so many reasons, but especially so if you're a wine enthusiast. The island is home to so many grape varieties, many not found elsewhere, not even the Greek mainland. One variety I learned about during my visit was the black grape, Kotsifali.  Kotsifali is a little tricky to work with in the vineyard. It is vigorous and highly productive and largely disease-resistant. All good things. But, it can be prone to downy mildew and botrytis. The main trick is to try to curb the grape’s naturally high alcohol tendency but still leave it on the vine long for sufficient time to

By 2Amber Wine, Amphora, European Wines, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Used to be that Markogianni was not a winery with which I was familiar. A friend recommended their Vorias and Helios amber Assyrtiko to me some time ago. That one wine was all it took really to sell me on the whole winery. Subsequent trips have seen me tracking down more and more of their wines and I am dying to visit them.  Located to the far west of the country, near the Ionian sea and ancient Olympia,  Markogianni Winery is a family-run winery launched in 1982. They soon converted to organic cultivation and in 2001 were certified by DIO. Between their own vineyards and the growers with whom

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  If I feel like I have a hard time selling the concept of Turkish wine, how must the Baltic countries feel? This question came up recently when Goda, owner of Vines & Pearls, shared with me a bottle of Geri Metai rowan wine.  I knew a number of northern countries made wine, so I was not overly surprised when Goda offered to share a bottle of wine from her home country. Up until the early 20th century, Lithuania was more of a beer and mead producing kind of country. Many of us would hear that and think, well yes obviously. As far north as it sits, Lithuania enjoys neither

By 0Amber Wine, European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  My little brother (by which I mean younger in that he stands something like 6'6" or 6'7") and I have a tradition going back to when I lived in DC. He's always the one to pick me up from the airport when I visit. Then we go to Wendy's, then Meijer (a MI/regional superstore). It's changed a little over the years. Now he picks me up in Chicago instead of Grand Rapids and rather than Meijer (which I hit later for major shopping) we go to Siciliano's. It may sound like an Italian restaurant, but it is in fact a gourmet drinks shop. I first encountered it back in

By 0Amber Wine, Amphora, European Wines, Orange Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Of the hundreds and thousands of grapes the world has, my three favorite are white varieties. One of which is Assyrtiko. I am lucky enough to be in the position that I can visit Greece often. And, thanks to my writing work, have even been to Santorini. For several years, I spent those trips drinking mostly Assyrtiko. And almost exclusively Santorini Assyrtiko. I didn't like mainland Assyrtiko, felt almost offended by its softness compared the acid powerhouses offered by the Cycladic Islands. A quick note about those powerhouses. I recently learned, during a lecture by Dr. Yiannis Paraskevopoulos from Gai'a winery how different the mineral levels are in

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Several years ago, I went on my first wine tour in Hungary. I've been a Hungarian wine lover for years, but before this tour, had never heard of Somló. One short visit (which you can read about here!) and I was an enthusiastic convert to this exciting region.  Somló and Kolonics Pincészet  Hungary is a smallish country so, one logically expects that its wine regions would also be small in size (if not production or quality!). However, the miniscule size of the Somló region still takes one by surprise. It is a single, free-standing (as in not part of a series or foothills etc) hill. You can see the entirety if

By 0European Wines, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The Vatistas Ioannis Winery was born in the 1990s when Ioannis Vatistas decided to turn his love of wine into a winery. He created his vineyards in one of the most viticulturally advantageous areas of Monemvasia; setting them on the plain of Voion and on the slopes of Pantanassa. Over the years, the vineyards have expanded considerably. The Vatistas family now has over 400 acres of Greek and international varieties.  While many of us know and love some of the grapes in the Vatistas vineyards, like Kydonitsa, Mavroudi, Monemvasia, Roditis, Mantilaria, Assyrtiko, Aidani , Athiri, Agiorgitiko, and Malagouzia; others are significantly less familiar. Since they first started bottling in