Today I'm kicking off a new monthly series here
Read More
We left the A. Gere vineyards on day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu and headed to their winery for a walk around tasting of Villány's 12 best Cabernet Franc wines. Villány and Cabernet Franc While Villány's historically most important grape is Portugieser, it is most renowned for Cabernet Franc. Here in what is called the 'devil's punch bowl' due to the intense heat the region receives, Cabernet Franc ripens both well and predictably every year. Plush, velvety tannins, ripe fruit flavors, and those lovely earthy and spicy notes that make Cab Franc stand out are on full display in Villányi Franc. PDO Villány wines have three quality levels: Classic: no
Read MoreWe left Tornai after our tasting to continue our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu in a different region: Szekszárd. But first, another three hour drive! There was lots of driving on this trip. I was pretty happy to not have to be the one driving at least! I'm usually the one behind the wheel. Plus, all these long drives gave us time to get to know one another. [caption id="attachment_16420" align="alignright" width="449"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Szekszárd Szekszárd (sek-sard), was not entirely a new-to-me region in that I'd heard of it and had previously drunk some Szekszárdi wines. But I'd never been before this tip! Located in southern Hungary, a stone's throw from
Read More
After lunch at the Paris Passage, we headed east of Budapest to the Mátra region. With vineyards located on the lower slopes of the Mátra mountain range close to the border with Slovakia, this is Hungary's second largest PDO. Just west of Eger, the soils here consist largely of volcanic soils, sand, and loess which contribute to the region's signature aromatic whites and structured red wines. [caption id="attachment_16378" align="alignright" width="500"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] White grape varieties here include Irsai Olivér, Rizlingszilváni, Olaszrizling, Zenit, Leányka, Hárslevelű, Sauvignon Blanc, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Chardonnay, and Tramini. For reds, Kékfrankos dominates but Turán, Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot. Getting to Know Mátra We arrived
Read More
Some Turkish grape names are very straightforward. Kalecik Karası, for example, means “black from Kalecik.” Very little to argue about there. Others, like Gök, have unknown origins. A few, like Karalahna, have hotly contested translations. Papazkarası (pa-paz-ka-rah-sih) is the only grape with a spelling dispute! Wineries seem to be split down the middle on whether they spell it Papazkarası, with a ‘z’, or Papaskarası, with an ‘s’. However it gets spelled, one thing everyone agrees on is that this Thracian variety makes darn good wine. The name means “black of the pope” or “pope’s black” which allegedly goes back to the Byzantine era when wines made from this grape were
Read More
Female owned and operated Tafali Bağcılık is one of Turkey's newest wineries. Based in Kalecik, join the ranks of wineries like Tomurcukbağ and Vinkara in focusing on the local grape, Kalecik Karası. So much focus in fact, that they make only two wines. Both 100% Kalecik Karası, one a rosé, the other a red. But before we get to the wines, a bit about the winery and the women behind it. [caption id="attachment_16287" align="alignleft" width="225"] Me, in lieu of a label![/caption] Fatma Yiğit and Alime Cicerali are agricultural engineers who became friends while working together. They decided to explore a different side of agriculture and started a small vineyard in
Read More
For August's #WinePW event, host Gwendolyn from The Wine Predator, has invited us to explore amphora aged wines from around the world. You can view her invitation here. If you're reading this early enough, whether you write about amphora-aged wines or not, please feel free to join our Twitter discussion on August 14 at 8am CST / 11am EST / 6pm GMT+3. Based on every archeological and history museum I've ever visited, pottery is the most commonly found, left behind by previous civilizations item. It's the old museum bait and switch
Read More
Every year the Jancis Robinson hosts a summer wine writing competition. This year, inspired by the Old Vines Conference, writers were invited to submit stories about just that
Read More
7Bilgeler (or Yedi Bilgeler as you prefer) has long produced wines I've liked and admired. My one issue was that all the wines were international grape-based. No longer! The southern Aegean-based winery has released two* new varietal native grape wines under a new 'Vindemia' label: an Emir and Kalecik Karası. *7Bilgeler has used small amounts of Kalecik Karası for a while in blends and has now also released a Chardonnay-Emir blend under different labels. 7Bilgeler Vindemia Defne Emir, 2020 While I don't particularly love it when wineries drag grapes across the country, I must admit that Emir planted outside of Central Anatolia's Cappadocia region just doesn't work. At least not so
Read More
If Turkey has a workhorse grape, this is it. Grown in the abundant vineyards of Denizli in Turkey's Aegean region, Çal Kkarası (chal kah-ra-sih) has often been used to support red blends. In blends, it lends some acidity to flabby grapes and fills out a wine if the preferred grapes didn't do so well that year. Meaning the "black from Çal" this grape prefers the clay loam and chalky soils of, you guessed it, Çal (a district in the Denizli province). The dark purple have a slightly elongated shape, are small to medium in size, and don't have especially thin skins. They retain acidity well and when vinified as a
Read More
