For years Bozcaada wineries have more or less quietly made wine with Karalahna. Maybe it's me noticing it more or maybe it's that the grape made it off the island and into the hands of one of the country's most popular winemakers
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My introduction to Hungarian wine occurred on a work trip to Budapest in 2004. Budapest is a beautiful city I have since fallen in love with. But I felt strange in this wintery, new country where I didn’t speak the language. The wine, a syrupy, low quality Tokaji sold in the tourist shops. A memory quickly forgotten. More than 10 years later I would find myself in Hungary again for work. This time, I was not alone and was sequestered with colleagues in a spider infested hotel on Lake Balaton. The hotel food was terrible, the conference not going well, and we were at one another’s throats. Then someone
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When I'm in Athens, my friend M and I play a game. We stand in front of the wine shelves at his local grocery and pick out a few bottles with grape names unfamiliar to us. We've had some massive failures doing this. Once we got a wine that tasted like liquid perfume soap. That bottle went straight down the sink. Even though it may well be just an enormously bad example of that particular grape, we're now terrified of it. On the flip side, we have discovered a number of new (to us) varieties we like quite a lot. While I typically veer towards Greece's white grapes, I've
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The bulk of Öküzgözü in Turkey grows in the grape's homeland of Elazığ in Eastern Anatolia. The most widely-planted Turkish black grape sometimes gets trucked hundreds of kilometers from Elazığ to other parts of the country for production. However, it's not the most widely-planted grape for nothing. Öküzgözü now grows in, I dare saw, all eight wine regions. It has proven to be adaptable to a variety of soil types and climates. I have enjoyed trying Öküzgözü from different regions to see how these adaptations reflect in wine. Likya Şarapları is one of Turkey's Mediterranean wineries. Although you wouldn't know it when you visit! Located in Elmalı, it sits quite
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Given my recent complain about the current trend for blanc de noir Papazkarası and the lack of good red wines made with it, I thought it was time to take a look at Chamlija's newest blend, PaPiKa. Chamlija is one of the few wineries really paying attention to this grape. The winery produces a handful of wines with Papazkarası (or Papaskarası as it's sometimes spelled) including varietals like the Kara Sevda and blends. Chamlija also produces the grape in all colors possible. This new wine takes its name directly from the blend: PA for Papazkarası (35%) PI for Pinot Noir (35%) KA for Kalecik Karası (30%) Chamlija PaPiKa, 2019 The blend aged
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The Urla district of İzmir in Turkey's Aegean region has become a hotbed of trendy wineries. Many belong to the Urla Bağ Yolu (the easiest wine route to navigate). Even those that do not though are not so far off the path. The newest winery to open its doors is Hus Şarapçılık. Founded in 2017 by Juan Pablo Diaz Leon and Ceylan Ertörer Diaz Leon, Hus Şarapçılık is a family venture that blends the Chilean wine background of Juan Pablo's family, and the agricultural history belong to Ceylan's family. When I talk about the Turkish-Greek population exchange of the 1920s, it's usually about the Greeks leaving Turkey (as that directly
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To kick off summer, I recently hosted an online wine tasting of some of Turkey's island wines. Turkey has several islands which boast great seafood, nice beaches, old forts, beautiful scenery, and yes, wine! Many of the grapes grown on these island grow only on these islands. Happily for those of us in Turkey, we needn't trek to the islands for the wines as they're widely available on the mainland. For the tasting, I selected five wines from four different wineries. Four grapes are native Turkish but one is a Croatian transplant. Yes. Croatian. You'll have to read on to find out which grape! Çamlıbağ AyaPetro Erken Hasat, 2020 We began
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Have you ever found a producer who just excels at something? For me that person is Akın Gürbüz. I enjoy all his wines (his new Sauvignon Blanc is killer) but in my opinion where he really shines is his reds. Akın Gürbüz made a new red wine? Both hands in the air, sign me up, where do I get in line?! He's recently released a slew of new wines including: Hieros Oros (a Bordeaux-style), and varietal Merlot and Cinsault. I drank, I swooned. I haven't yet posted about them here (although I have on Instagram). His Blend #1 isn't new though. I'm going back to the classics with this one.
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This month, Linda from My Full Wine Glass has challenged the #WinePW group to find those 'difficult' to pair foods. You can read her invitation post here. We'll be chatting about this on Twitter on June 12 at 11 am EST / 8 am CST / 6 pm Istanbul. Whether or not you wrote a post for the event join us! See what creative pairings the group came up with and chime in with your discoveries! For some people (myself included) any pairing brings on insecurity and nervous sweats. I do not like food pairing. And yes, I see the irony in being part of not one, not two,
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Asmadan winery, located in Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula, has vineyards in several locations in Turkey. Some surround the winery, others sit in the Aegean region - Turkey's most prolific grape growing area. The winery also works with growers in the east. From Elazığ and Diyarbakır (respectively), it sources Öküzgözü and Boğazkere. The topic of our tasting notes today. The winery currently produces wine under five labels (listed below in descending order of quality). Kor Reserve holds a place at the top of Asmadan's quality pyramid. Kayalıtepe Kor Reserve Duman Gönülden CNKL Asmadan Kor Reserve Öküzgözü Boğazkere, 2018 Öküzgözü and Boğazkere are considered common blending partners. They have a very Merlot-Cabernet relationship. The Asmadan Kor Reserve
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