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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 32)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

After six years of living in this country, my Turkish language is still pretty crap. Partially because my day job is conducted 98% in English and because my Turkish friends all speak English far better than I speak Turkish. Really though, it’s just a terribly difficult language and my mind seems to reject all its weird grammar structures. I’ve studied Turkish over three different periods at three different language schools. Each time I restart, I get bumped down to a beginner level course and have to work my way back up to the advanced classes Wine, Like Language Many think learning a language with a different alphabet is scary and

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  All of the teachers participate somehow and many of them wear traditional Austrian costumes of Lederhosen and Dirndl. As a rather typical American, my family is from a little bit of everywhere and I’ve always been envious of people who have a cultural heritage that comes with national costumes, traditions, food, etc. Our biggest tradition in Michigan is using our right hand as a state map. Which, come on, is pretty cool. Istranca Terroir In a way, wine is like my Austrian friends and their dirndl; they come from and belong to a place. However, with wine we define that with the somewhat indefinable term, terroir.  Kırklareli-based winery Chamlija takes a huge amount of pride in its terroir. When we

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

It feels like forever since my last post! While I try to post every Wednesday and Sunday, I missed the previous two weeks due to travel. My day job occasionally pulls me back to DC so I can reconnect with the mother ship. Since I’d already crossed an ocean to get there I decided to go even farther west to Las Vegas. Not to visit any casinos though! Rather, to meet my bff’s new baby. Even though my trip did include some wine in both DC and Vegas (and a split of Champagne at the Denver airport I drank with Egg McMuffins-true story); I am happy to be

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Turkish Malbec? What? That can’t be right, you’re thinking. It pleases me to say that it is correct! Turkey makes Malbec. In fact, Malbec is cultivated in at least three of the eight wine regions. Only a handful of producers are making varietal Malbec but it appears pleasingly frequently in a number of blends. So how does Turkish Malbec stack up against Malbec giant Argentina or even hometown Cahors? Before we can dive into the wines themselves, let’s look at the regions where it grows; beginning with the most westerly region-Thrace. Thrace The Thrace (or Trakya in Turkish) growing region extends from Turkey’s borders with Bulgaria and Greece down to the

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  One does not immediately associate wine with piracy. Yet, Barbare, one of Turkey’s Thracian wineries, takes its name and inspiration from the famed (or perhaps infamous!) pirate, Barbarossa. Before visiting Barbare, I had no idea that the pirate Barbarossa (aka Redbeard) was Turkish. Let alone that he was an admiral in the Ottoman navy. His journey from renegade pirate to respected admiral meandered nearly as much as Turkey’s recent wine history. Readbeard, King of the Sea Barbarossa – image from Wikipedia In the same year Columbus left to “discover” America, the Barbarossa brothers Khidr and Oruç, Were already villainous pirates. After Spain kicked the last of the Muslims out of Iberia, it, along with Portugal,

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  While Turkish wine may be my raison d’être, that certainly doesn’t preclude enjoying wine from other countries. Greece in particular has captured me over the last couple years so I was thrilled to learn about the Oenorama event held every spring in Athens. So, with my cat being looked after by neighbor’s son I was able to take a quick flight to Greece for a lovely long weekend. Oenorama started in 1994. While there are many wine festivals in Greece that focus on specific regions (for example the Peleponnese Wine Festival that occurred in February), Oenorama brings together wineries from all over Greece. This year over 200 wineries and related businesses took

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Just a few years ago, Papaskarası, a black grape native to Turkey’s Thrace, was something of a novelty. Very few producers worked with it. Nowadays it seems to be the next big thing in Turkish wine. The number of producers using it has grown and you can find it as varietal red and rosé wines and in blends. There are even a few blanc de noirs floating around. Melen Winery, located in the Hoşköy village of Thrace’s Tekirdağ district, is one of those few wineries that has been working with Papaskarası for quite some time. A family-run winery since the 1920s, it’s also one of the oldest continuous running wineries in Turkey. While

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Fortified wine is not so much a thing in Turkey. However, for a country that’s shown itself to be a scrappy innovator in wine, finding fortified Turkish wine did not surprise me. Certainly we do not see the levels produced in famed fortified wine countries like Spain and Portugal. In fact, I can think of only two available of which this Kayra Madre is one. What really excited me about the Kayra Madre is that Kayra used native Turkish grapes for its fortified wine. The Madre features Turkey’s famous blending partners Öküzgözü and Boğazkere, showing them off in a way not done before. A non vintage blend, this blend clocks in

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  I was really skeptical about the Cantine due Palme Tessuto Salento Primitivo when I bought it. Any imported wine that costs only 50 TL (give or take $10) likely is only a $5 wine wherever it calls home. Sometimes you have to take a chance though. I was pleased that I did. Canete due Palme Cantine Due Palme is a co-op wine company established in 1989. The company began with 15 growers. Today that number has expanded to include 1,000 growers cultivating 2,500 hectares of vine across Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto. In addition to expanding its grower base, Cante due Palme also merged with four other large wineries: Produttori Agr.

By 0Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Datça Vineyard and Winery, conveniently located on the same named peninsula in southern Turkey, is a small, family-run winery. Here they make wine for the love of it but are perfectly poised to take advantage of the tourist rich area. The Datça Peninsula Located along the Aegean coast between famous resort areas of Bodrum and Fethiye, the Datça (dat-cha) Peninsula is a long, narrow peninsula that is a combination of fjords and beaches, uninhabited mountains, and fertile plains and valleys. Easily accessed via a picturesque (albeit long) drive from the mainland or regular ferries from Bodrum, the area offers a fair amount of attractive activities for tourists. Beaches, a charming