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European Wines

HomeEuropean Wines (Page 4)

  Deanna of Wineivor has invited the #ItalianFWT group to explore the Vento and the Wines of Romance this month! As Deanna pointed out in her invite, the Vento is well-known for its wines, among them Prosecco, Valpolicella, Soave, Bardolino, and Amarone. I chose to focus on Prosecco. Not just because I love bubbles (which of course I do!) but because of the memories associated with it.  In October 2019, I took my mother to Italy, her first trip there. We went to Rome because if you're Catholic you go to Rome, and we went to Venice. At every meal or stop to rest (she not being super mobile), I

  A family winery located in the Balaton Uplands Laposa Birtok has a beautifully romantic story. In 1978, József Laposa and Eleonóra Barabás met on a train traveling through Balaton. It must have been love at first sight because the couple married later that same year. Coincidentally, both happened to come from wine families and the marriage joined the Laposa family barrel maker with the Barabás family winemaker. The couple received a small wine press house in the Balaton Uplands as a wedding gift and from there built their winery. Today in the hands of their children, Laposa Birtok focuses mainly on white wines. They work with traditional, local grape varieties typical

  Some time ago, I posted about a couple different Moschofilero wines I'd had, which you can find here. Then, at the urging of my friend Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine, I hunted down a Bosniakis Moschofilero.  Given how wide-spread Moschofilero is in the Peloponnese, especially in Mantineia where the Mantineia PDO wines must contain minimum 85% Moschofilero; none of us should feel shocked about the wide range of wine quality. While almost always at least enjoyable, Moschofilero can give rather insipid wines.  While it resembles the Traminer and Muscat grapes in aroma profile, it does not belong to either grape family. In fact, two opposing theories debate Moschofilero's background. One

  Cindy of Grape Experiences has invited the #ItalianFWT group to explore the wines, food, and history of Friuli and/or Trentino-Alto Adige this month. Join us today Saturday, September 2 on twitter for our discussion at 11 AM EST! These are both regions of Italy that I would love to explore but haven't yet been able to visit. Until then, I can but explore them through the occasional bottle of wine that drops into my hands! For this month, I chose to focus on the Alto Adige side of things with a bottle of Schiava.  Trentino-Alto Adige [caption id="attachment_19430" align="alignright" width="330"] Schiava - illustration from Wikipedia[/caption] Trentino-Alto Adige is Italy's northernmost wine region,

  Even though I finally made it to Slovenia a few years ago, I barely got a taste of the wine! Despite the fact that taste wine was mostly all I did for the few days I was there! So when I had the chance to make a big wine order from the US, Slovenian wine was one of the things I looked for. Not only did I find some, I was thrilled that what I found was sparkling! This wine had a crazy journey. From Slovenia to the US to Turkey with how many stops and what kind of conditions along the way. I felt a little trepidatious about

  Jennifer from Vino Travels has invited the #ItalianFWT group to discover the wines of Emilia Romagna and/or Liguria this August! I've been waiting for this one since I saw the year's event calendar because I LOVE Lambrusco!! My very fist sip of Lambrusco happened over 20 years ago but I still remember it. I can picture the restaurant so clearly in my head. It was 2000 and I was in Tübingen for the summer to study German (incidentally, the stupidest place to send German language students). There was an Italian restaurant across bridge over the Neckar and immediately to the left along the Neckarfront. I was not legal drinking

  My first introduction to Oenops was a few years ago at Athens' Oenorama. My friend, Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine and Chania Wine Tours (who knows everyone in Greek wine) told me that, while not Cretan, Oenops makes the best Vidiano. Nikos Karatzas founded Oenops Wines in 2015. While his winery sits in Drama in the eastern part of Macedonia, his grapes come from everywhere. Karatzas tours Greece looking for high-quality, native grapes like Xinomavro, Limniona, Malagousia, Assyrtiko, Roditis, and of course, Vidiano. Once he's found a grower, he works almost like a micro-négociant creating partnerships with growers who share his ideals. In the winery, Karatzas strives to make low

  Bubbles bubbles everywhere! This month, Deanna from Wineivore has invited the #WinePW crew to explore Cava. Join us for a brief chat on Twitter Saturday, July 8 at 11 AM EST (that's 18:00 Istanbul time!) by following the #WinePW hashtag. Cava is an often overlooked sparkling wine. Significantly less expensive (usually) than Champagne but also a traditional method sparkling wine, Cava can be a simple and enjoyable bottle of bubbles. However, there are Cava houses making serious wines with depth and complexity as well. It can be difficult to know what you're getting though. Part of that reason is because, while the "heart" of Cava production is in Catalonia,

  A friend of mine drives back and forth from Istanbul to Austria and back every summer. Last year she drove through Romania on the way back home and stopped a winery where she picked up a couple bottles of wine for me. Fantastic friend that! I know that Romania has a wealth of native grapes and I've had a few, but only in blends which made me even more excited to try these. 1000 de Chipuri Located just north of the Bulgaria-Romania border and a bit west of the Black Sea is 1000 de Chipuri. The name means 1000 faces and pays homage to the people who work in wine.