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European Wines

HomeEuropean Wines (Page 12)

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This lovely little number has been showing up in shops around the 'Bul lately. I've had it before and from that experience knew I had to include it in the Advent wine calendar! I needed at least one bottle of bubbles for the calendar. This wine is so cheerful and happy which made it a great fit! A large-scale wine producer, Collis Riondo managed 6,000 hectares(!!!!) covering all the main production zones in the Veneto. The winery makes both sparkling and still wines under several labels. However, in Istanbul we see only this Riondo Cuvée and two or three of the still wines from their Castelforte line. Cantine Riondo Cuvée

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, Sweet Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  To be honest, this wine did not come out of my boxes 'o Advent wine. I happened to be at a friend's for dinner and she served this with dessert. But I thought, why not include it? I did after all drink it during Advent. So that counts. Georgian wine has a growing popularity in Turkey. However, so far what we get here are European-style wines (i.e. not qvevri aged or skin contact) from the larger, factory wineries. And while Badagoni fits into that large-format category, their wine is not available in Turkey. This I think she got in the UK of all places - which apparently imports a

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This morning I finally managed to pull out a not blind tasting bottle! And the first white wine of the season too! What I got was a Grüner Veltliner from F.X. Pichler - just about the only Grüner Veltliner available in Turkey. I adore Grüner Veltliner. Luckily I have an Austrian friend who brings back bottles to share with me. Even though she comes from Welschriesling country and gently mocks my pronunciation of Grüner Veltliner. It's a deceptively difficult thing to say. Or so I tell myself to avoid having to admit simply that my German accent is atrocious. My apologies to all German speaking people to whom I

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Wine Reviews

  It seems, based on a quick inspection of my Advent boxes o' wine, that I wrapped MOST of them to disguise the labels. Which really makes my Advent wine calendar a month-long blind tasting experiment. That's good though. I desperately need the practice. And it also lends an exciting sensation of fear and trepidation every time I reach into the box. Today's wine is missing the capsule. I must have thought that would give me too many clues as to its contents. That says to me either the wine is foreign and I wanted to remove any tell-tale DOP indications; or it's domestic but I put only one wine

By 0European Wines, Orange Wine, Rest of the World, Sparkling Wine, Wine Reviews

  Every time I go to Tbilisi I look for new wines I haven't seen before. One of my favorite sources is g.Vino wine bar. Great wines, food, service, and you can buy all their wines to go. g.Vino sports a fantastic collection of quality Georgian wines and often has things that I cannot find easily elsewhere. Like this Gotsa Chinuri Pet-Nat! Gotsa Winery At Gotsa winery, wine is a family tradition that founder Beka Gotsadze is determined to preserve. Located 4200 feet above sea level in the hills of the Asureti Valley, in the Atenuri appellation, Gotsa is only about a 30 minute drive from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. If, that

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

  Today is International Xinomavro Day! This new grape holiday was established only last year. While I missed my chance to post about it in 2019, I'm very excited to talk about Xinomavro this year. I previously wrote about Kokkinos Xinomavro (which was lovely). And while several bottles languish in my wine room, I do not often drink Xinomavro. At least not as often as I'd like! Today is a good reason to bust out some tasking notes though. But first, let's talk about the grape itself. Xinomavro Xinomavro (ksi-NO-mav-row) grows mainly in Northern Greece. The PDO most famous for this grape is Naoussa but it grows well also in Amyndeo, Goumenissa,

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Tbilvino, established in 1962, has grown into a leading producer of Georgian wines with a 6.5 million bottle portfolio. The company operates two wineries; one in Tbilisi and another in Kakheti. I'd seen their wines around Tbilisi, in fact my regular hotel keeps a display of them in the lobby. However, I'd never tried them until the 2017 New Wine Festival I attended in Tbilisi. I came home from that trip with two of their wines, the Sachino medium dry white and the Special Reserve Kisi. Kisi, from Eastern Georgia, is one of the leading white grape varieties after Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane. From the well-known Kakheti region, plantings of

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  While probably half the wines I buy in Greece invariably end up being Assyrtiko, or Assyrtiko-lead blends, I am always on the lookout for new (to me) grapes. Last year at a wine festival in Athens I tasted a 100% Athiri. Could I find it anywhere to buy? No of course not. Not on that or any subsequent trip. I did, however, get my hands on another grape often blended with Assyrtiko, Aidani. Aidani One of Greece's many indigenous white grapes, Aidani grows mainly in the Greek islands, particularly the Cyclades and Rhodes. Finding it on its own is a rarity. Most often, Aidani gets blended with Assyrtiko as part

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Continuing my COVID quarantine virtual traveling down memory lane with Austria. I've already (re)visited Austria with my post about Steiermark. This time around I'm focusing not on a region but on a grape: Grüner Veltliner. The closest I've come to Grüner Veltliner territory, or Gru-Ve (as it briefly became known) have been a few flying trips to Vienna. I first visited Vienna while I was in university. I'd just completed a German language summer program in Tübingen, Germany and was doing a two week, whirlwind tour of the "rest" of Europe. My second trip was eight years later. At that time I was a far more seasoned traveler although my