It's December 4 - you know that that means! #CabFrancDay! I wouldn't miss a chance to celebrate this wine holiday. Not only because my friend Lori Budd of Exploring the Wineglass and Dracaena Wines founded it
Read More
Lucien Arkas began his path to winery ownership as a wine lover with a dream. And a lot of money. In 2010 when the floundering İdol Wines company went for sale, he snapped it up and began to turn it into a successful business. LA Wines (or LA Şarapçılık or Lucien Arkas Bağları or LA Mahzen you'll see it all ways) sits within the boundaries of the city of Izmir in Torbalı. Despite being surrounded by industrial complexes, Arkas managed to get organic certification for his 29 hectares from Ecocert. He also built a beautiful restaurant and event space overlooking the vineyards which helped solidify the new winery's
Read More
Canan's wines often fly under the radar, but the Gordias Oğan wasn't even on mine. Until I happened to spot a bottle of it at Solera. Located in Central Anatolia in Polatlı, a bit south-west of Ankara, Gordias winery works with a wide range of native and international grapes. Of course Kalecik Karası features heavily in the wines as do Narince, Fesleğen, Hasandede, Öküzgözü, and Boğazkere. On the international side, the winery produces Sauvingon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Merlot. Usually the wines involve one grape or sometimes blends of native and international grapes like the Cabernet Franc - Kalecik Karası and the Kalecik Karası - Boğazkere - Merlot. The Oğan
Read More
Semi-recently I took a trip to Georgia (the Republic of, not the peach state). I haven't been since before the pandemic hit and was happy for a chance to get back to the land of khatchapuri. This wasn't just an eating trip though. I actually went to attend the Women in Wine Expo. When I heard the woman behind the organization is Turkish, I had to go! You can read more about Senay and her work here. How did I get from there to a primer on Tavkveri? Well because naturally I stayed an extra day to hit up a few of my favorite wine bars, restaurants, and shops
Read More
Sagavın Winery's wines still reside totally under the radar. I've seen them at the odd shop here in Istanbul but not widely. Which is a shame. I'm not going to pretend that they're the greatest wines or even anything above mediocre because they're not. And yet. They're pricing their wines exactly as they should - not always a guarantee anywhere, especially not here! For that reason alone I think it's a winery worth supporting. Wine can improve. Egos and price inflation rarely do. I've tried a number of Sagavın's wines so far, the rosé was a nice surprise! And now that temperatures have cooled off a bit, I can
Read More
Büyülübağ owner Alp Törüner experimented with micro vinifications of wild fermentations for a few years before releasing his first commercial bottling in 2015. While perhaps not the first such wine on the market, the Büyülübağ Wild Ferment Cabernet Sauvignon was the first wine to label itself a 'wild ferment'. Törüner feels a deep connection with Cabernet Sauvignon. Two of his aunts (by marriage) are French and they brought a lot of their culture into the family, including the practice of drinking wine with meals. He first visited France when he was 11-12 years old and even at that early age was captured by the country and wine. The grapes for
Read More
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
Read More
August is just about over meaning summer is winding down
Read MoreAkberg Büyükbağ I learned about last autumn at the Gustobar Sommelier Selection and was then happy to see them back in the spring at CMC (Istanbul's two big wine events). We know how much I love a new winery so I was excited at both events to try their wines. Even after I learned where the winery is based. Akberg Akberg winery has its base in Şirince, Izmir. Something that makes most of us in Turkey instinctually wince. Why you might ask? Should you come to Turkey and do a tour of Ephesus, the famous Greco-Roman ruins south of Izmir along the Aegean, your tour inevitably includes a trip
Read More
Several months ago, Midin Şarapçılık sent me a selection of wines from their new 2020 vintage. A friend introduced me to Midin last year. Since then, I visited them in May of 2021, got try try most of their 2019 wines, and wrote about them for last summer's Jancis Robinson writing competition. The winery is only on its second commercial vintage but, comparing the new wines they sent me to my 2019 notes, I can already see an improvement. Now I look forward to 2021 which they predict will be their best year yet. They admit they've made a few mistakes and stumbles along the way, but who doesn't
Read More
