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European Wines

HomeEuropean Wines (Page 7)

  I bought this Carpinus Tokaj Hárslevelű during my last trip to Budapest this June. In a way, this one bottle brought the last year full circle for me. Last year, I participated in (and won! thanks to all you who voted) a wine writing competition organized by Hungarian Wines.EU. This year, during that trip in June, the organizer asked me if I would judge the entries for this summer's competition. My task, to judge the submissions in the "Hárslevelű - More Than "The Other" Grape" category. Owned by Edit and Istaván Bai, Carpinus Winery sits in Hungary's famed Tokaj region. Here the Bais cultivate their grapes with environmentally friendly practices

  Do you love sparkling wine? I do. I'm always happy to try any of them (and generally even happier to drink them). Finding new sparkling wine to drink is one of the many fun things about learning about wine regions. On a semi-recent trip to Athens, I discovered a new bottle of bubbles thanks to one of my favorite wine shops (Alpha Sigma in Syntagma): Theopetra Estate Edenia Rosé. We don't hear a lot about Limniona but I have really enjoyed the few I've had. So when I saw this Limniona sparkling wine, I couldn't not buy it. The grape comes from Thessaly in north-central Greece. It's undergoing something

  Have you had wine from Kefalonia? If the answer is 'no' then you should try to change that ASAP! I haven't yet been to the island but it is so on my list (right after Paros). And Sarris Winery and the Sarris V for Vostilidi are two of the big reasons why.  Kefalonia (or Cephalonia if you prefer) is one of Greece's Ionian islands. Not just one of actually, it's the largest. It is also home to an ancient wine culture - mentioned in Homer's The Odyssey no less - with not just one but three PDO-level appellations. The island's main claim to wine fame is the grape Robola.

  Some time ago, I wrote a little compilation of Moschofilero tasting notes. My great friend Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine not so subtly commented that I hadn't been drinking the best Moschofilero and suggested I try Troupis Fteri (which I had) and Bosinakis. And when Unravelling Wine tells you to do something, you do it! Bosinakis Winery - Οινοποιία Μποσινάκης Bosinakis Winery is run by the young Sotiris and Katerina Bosinakis. The couple has produced wine since 1992 but it wasn't until 2009 that they entered the bottled wine industry. Still producing at boutique levels, today their PDO Mantineia is one of the most popular Moschofileros on the market. The couple's

  With school bells tolling the end of summer, Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles has invited the #winepw group to a "back to school" themed Twitter chat on Saturday, September 10. You can read her invitation here and, even if you haven't written a post, follow along with what promises to be several interesting conversations at 11 am EST / 8 am PST by following the hashtag. Everyone in the group this month essentially gets to set their own topic with this theme!  Our challenge, per Robin, is to "put together a fun educational piece to expand your wine knowledge!" Eeek! The pressure! But no, really, the fun! Given the history

  On Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, Lyrarakis Estate has spearheaded the movement to revive one of the island's oldest and rarest grapes: Dafni. Lyrarakis Estate Founded in 1966, family-run Lyrarakis Estate focuses on local, often rare, Cretan varieties. Located in Irakleo (or Heraklion) just east of the island's center, the winery and vineyards sit near the idyllic Lassithi mountains. Here the family has worked hard to revitalize rare grapes like Dafni, Plyto, and Melissaki. And how's this for timely? Lyrarakis Estate was named as one of Wine & Spirits Magazine Top 100 this year! Dafni The grape's name comes from δάφνη, the Greek word for laurel/bay leaf as the wine produced

  Many of us know Grüner Veltliner, or "green Veltliner" Austria's premier white grape; but what do we know about its "red" counterpart, Roter Veltliner? I say "counterpart" but that is rather misleading. Despite the name similarity, the grapes themselves have no relation. Moreover, Roter Veltliner itself is a misleading name because it's not at all red. It's a white grape. Roter Veltliner Unlike my beloved Turkey, Austria is one of those countries that actually has winemaking regulations. Austrian quality wine - by which I mean Qualitätswein - has rules. It doesn't just mean wine that is good, it means wine produced under a designated origin; like Italy's DOC(G), Spain's DOC(a),

  In 1997, the Tsimbidis family founded Monemvasia Winery in Monemvasia, Laconia, Peleponnese. Their goal: to reinvigorate little-known grapes lost in time. The Tsimdibis family took its time with its winery. They devoted their first years to the study of local varieties and experimenting making wines with them. It wasn't until 2005 that they even began to plant. Now, they are the proud growers of a collection of rare varieties, uniquely encompassing Monemvasia*’s terroir over 30 hectares of organic vineyards. *Monemvasia is the name of the winery, a municipality on the east coast of the Peleponnese, a town on a small island off the coast of the Peleponnese, AND a

  Finding Hungarian sparkling wine in Budapest is as easy as hopping in a cab! Located along the Danube on the Buda side of the river lies the neighborhood of Budafolk, an historic center of wine production and cellars. In 1880,  a union of wine producing and bottling industries created a cellar network hollowed out of the limestone beneath the neighborhood. The cellar system, 25 kilometers in length and the largest in all of Europe, still exists earning the area the name “Cellar Town.” Today a number of wineries still have production facilities here, especially those focusing on sparkling wine production like Törley, Sauska, and Garamvári. While I was in