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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 13)

  Did you participate in dry January? I surely did not! If you did though, I'll be you're really ready for a little tipple! In which case, I've got you covered. What does your horoscope say you should try drinking in February? Read on and find out! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) When was the last time you felt entirely like yourself? Do you even remember what that feels like? Use this month to try to reconnect to that feeling. Maybe it means changing up your style, hunting down a friend you haven't seen in years, or resurrecting a childhood dream. You may also find this month that you're having difficulty finding

  Foça Karası, a nearly extinct grape from Izmir’s Foça district, is currently championed by only a few wineries, namely Öküzgözü Şarapçılık. Foça Karası (foe-cha ka-ra-sih) berries are small to medium in size and slightly elongated with thick skin. They grow in kind of loose, single-lobed, medium-sized bunches. It’s a mid-ripening grape that makes aromatic wines full of sour cherry, strawberry, prune, clove, black pepper, dill, black currant leaf, and licorice. While in Turkey this grape follows the "black of" naming pattern, this grape also goes by another name: Fokiano. While we know it as Foça Karası in Turkey, in Greece Fokiano (Φωκιανό) grows mainly on the Aegean islands (and a

  One of the world’s first empires, the Assyrian Empire (circa 2500 BC - 609 BC) spanned the periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age. Their empire covered vast territory including areas of modern day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. In addition to being a great military power, the Assyrians were talented artists (particularly sculpture and jewelry making), astronomers, and were believed to use technology like telescopes and magnifying glasses. They were also great lovers of wine. [caption id="attachment_16265" align="alignright" width="352"] 60+ year old Kerküş vine[/caption] During their heyday, records from their time show the expansive planting of vines, especially around Nineveh in Turkey’s

  While 2020 was straight-up awful, 2021 had a few more ups. Certainly there were downs! But the slowly slowly back to normal life certainly made the downs more bearable. Oh and my book finally came out! So that was a huge highlight for me! Of course I drank a ton of wine in 2021! I haven't actually posted reviews of all of them yet (I drink faster than I write); so just a quick look at some of my favorite wines from 2021. The Whites I won't lie, I vastly prefer white wine to red wine. Sadly for me, Turkey seems to think that it's a red wine country so there

  Even before my obsession enthusiasm for Turkish wine began, I knew the name Chateau Nuzun. I knew it as the closest winery to Istanbul and that it made wine with organic grapes. Neither of those things have changed. However, I now know a little bit more about the winery and the phenomenal woman, Nazan Uzun, behind it. Before organic viticulture reached its current level of popularity in Turkey, Nazan farmed organically. The majority of her vineyards give a home to international grapes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, and tiny amounts of Zinfandel and the native Öküzgözü. At few years ago, at the inaugural Kök Köken Toprak conference, Nazan

  I recently came back from a trip to Crete. My first time on the island, in fact my first time in ages outside of Athens. I met E&M there for M's 40th birthday. But bonus! I also got to meet up with my awesome friend Anna Maria of Unraveling Wine and Chania Wine Tours! We spent the week there in what, apparently, was some of the worst weather they've had in years. Pouring buckets of rain, what felt like gale force winds, and a 5.8 earthquake. We got rained out of several activities and/or things were closed for the season. But, a few nice moments with blue skies allowed

  Barel Bağları Gamay joins the (albeit limited) ranks of Turkish Gamays. Why this grape has suddenly become so popular is mystery - to me at least. But with at least five wineries suddenly released varietal wines or Gamay blends, it seems to taking off. Barel Bağları  Barel Bağları was founded in 1997 with the aim of adding a little bit more taste to the life by the Akın family. While Barel’s name comes from the names of two siblings Elif and Barkın Akın brothers; the winery is in the hands of youngest of the Akıns, Barkın. The Akın family made their own wine for family and friends years before they officially

  Summer red-wine drinkers meet your new best friend, Fersun! Fersun (fehr-soon) is a recently rescued from extinction native Turkish grape. Grown exclusively by Likya Şarapları, (who also did the rescuing), not a great deal is known yet about Fersun’s ampelographic background. But it does seem to be native to Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya. This pale, purple-red grape creates light to medium bodied wines redolent of pomegranate, blackberry, strawberry, black currant leaf, tomato leaf, bay leaf, black tea, black pepper, and violet. Low in tannin and with medium acidity, its wines are perfect to drink lightly chilled. Food Pairing For as much as we don’t know about the origins of this wine,

  I realized some time ago that I'd not reviewed the Sevilen Plato Öküzgözü, nor in fact any of Sevilen's Plato wines. Now, with Sevilen debuting a new Plato Narince (cannot wait to get a bottle!) I thought it's about time I got around to doing it. In the spring I opened two different wines from this series, the Kalecik Karası and Öküzgözü. Going to tackle the Öküzgözü here since I seem to be on an Öküzgözü roll lately!  While Öküzgözü originates in Elazığ in Turkey's north east, Sevilen's vineyards are located in Denizli in the inner Aegean. While much of Denizli sits at pretty high elevations, the overall climate