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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 37)

  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,

  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

  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

  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

  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.

  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

  Despite its long history with wine, Turkey has little wine culture. A great many of the Turks who make or love wine developed this passion as a result of strong external influences. It was while studying Finance in France that Yunus Mermerci began his wine journey. One that eventually lead him back to Turkey to found his own winery, Kastro Tireli. Kastro Tireli’s Vineyards     Located in Akhisar’s Pınarcık village, Kastro Tireli’s vineyards rise between 200-280 meters above the dusty north east Aegean sub-region of Manisa. The vineyards sit only 100 kilometers from the Aegean coast; close enough to still reap the benefits of coastal breezes. Winters here are generally cold

  The Alamos Malbec is one of the few readily available foreign wines at my Carrefour in Cihangir. One of the readily available, not French, wines that is. And at only about 45-50 TL it’s also one of the more reasonably priced imports. The various taxes that get piled on imports and alcohol often mean an outrageous markup on imported wines. Based in Mendoza, one of the most famous wine regions of Argentina, Alamos produces classic Argentine red and white wines. With more than 100 years of passion and research Alamos puts the very best of Argentina into every bottle. From their high-elevation vineyards at the foot of the Andes, they craft

  Chamlija Winery is a huge pioneer in Turkey. They experiment not only with various winemaking methods but also grape varieties. Chamlija is responsible for us having Turkish Riesling, Alvarino, Mavrud, and soon Assyrtiko. However, the winery does not ignore indigenous grape varieties. Öküzgözü and Boğazkere are two of Turkey’s most common black vinis vitifera grapes. They are more at home in their native areas of Turkey, Elazığ and Diyarbakır respectively. Very few wineries in Thrace make wine with these grapes at all. Even fewer actually grow the grapes themselves. Chamlija Öküzgözü Boğazkere 2015 Tasting Notes: Amongst Turkish varietals, Öküzgözü and Boğazkere are natural blending partners. Boğazkere, which translates as “throat burner” is an aptly named

  In Eastern Anatolia sits the city of Elazığ. Quite small by Turkey standards, the city is home to about 350,000 people with only about another 50,000 living outside the city but within the district. Like almost every other city or village in Turkey though, it is ancient, having been established as far back as 2000 BC. Elazığ is also home to one of Turkey’s most widely-known vitis vinifera grape varieties: Öküzgözü. [caption id="attachment_3711" align="alignleft" width="349"] map from World Atlas.com[/caption] Elazığ Province is situated at the northwestern corner of a 30-mile-long valley, Uluova (literally the Great Valley). It is surrounded by the Euphrates in the north and borders Tunceli to the North, Erzincan in the North-West, Bingöl to