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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 4)

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I was lucky enough to recently be invited to a tasting of Nif Bağları wines at Foxy Nişantaşı. As my focus tends to land on the wineries that work more vigorously with native grapes, some wineries, like Nif, often fall to the fringes of my drinking and writing. I therefore especially enjoyed this opportunity of returning to Nif's wines.  It was somehow only at this tasting that I learned why the winery is called Nif. I certainly have wondered (!) and cannot believe I never thought to ask. The winery is located in Kemalpaşa, İzmir. But, as with many cities in Turkey, the area has a much older

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. None of us had ever heard of the Black Sea grape Merzifon Karası before Likya debuted it as part of the winery's Arkeo line.  It seems it took another winery being successful with the grape for Diren, actually based in the Black Sea, to take notice and start making its own (far less superior imo) version. Then last year, Quinientos Dos (502) Vineyards, a new Black Winery, debuted its wines, including a varietal and a blend Merzifon Karası.  When I tried it last year (which you can read about here), I found a wild riot of

By 2Amber Wine, Articles, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine

  Every year - well every year that I remember - I like to do a quick review of the wines I tried or posted about during the year that I most enjoyed, that most surprised me, etc. This year the list is a little shorter than normal. Part of the problem with hyper focusing on such a relatively small wine industry is that

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

Ali and Fatma Ay were enticed into moving to the Mersin area in their retirement. What enticed them, you might ask. The heat? The beaches? The beautiful Mediterranean water? Nope. Patkara. Local wine made with this little heard of grape seduced them into not only moving to the region, but opening a winery. And, largely thanks to their efforts, Patkara has re-emerged onto the Turkish wine market. [easy-image-collage id=20798] Patkara’s home vineyards sit high in the Taurus Mountains at a minimum of 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) with some vineyards reaching even greater heights. Limestone bedrock is studded with marine fossils and, in many places, has given way to karstic landscapes.

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

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Saudade (sauw-dad) is one of those great words that has no direct translation in English. It's a Portuguese and Galician word derived from the Latin for solitude, but means so much more. Described often as a "Portuguese way of life", saudade encapsulates a "constant feeling of absence, the sadness of something that's missing, wistful longing for completeness or wholeness and the yearning for the return of what is now gone, a desire for presence as opposed to absence

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

  The rarity of my posting about Australian wines the rarity of drinking them. Not necessarily by choice, but by lack of availability. Luckily for me, my good friend Roy, who splits his time between Istanbul and Melbourne, brought me a couple bottles on one of his last visits! I'd selected three bottles but he surprised me with three more that he'd picked out himself. One of those, Yarrh Wines Sangiovese, is not something I'd ever have selected for myself.  I don't love Sangiovese. The magnificence of Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano aside, it's a grape that on the surface I should like, but rarely ever do.

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  With a view of living a life closer to nature, Can and Duygu Kırış bought some land in Bayramiç in 2017, with the view to starting an eco-tourism-related business. The land they bought came ready planted with olive trees, a local nectarine variety, a vegetable garden, and a small plot of Karasakız vines. Becoming winemakers was not part of their initial plan. In 2019, Can, out of curiosity, asked the original planter of the vineyard to show him how to make wine with the grapes…” being 100% it was going to taste awful.” It might very well have turned out exactly as he expected. Being new to wine and

By 2European Wines, Red Wine, Travel, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This past summer, I took a trip I've been wanting to make for a few years now: Sofia. Bulgaria may not be on the top of everyone's travel wish list (although it should be, it's beautiful!) but it's been on mine for a while now. Why? Wine, naturally! I've heard great things about Bulgarian wine and two years ago, Shoyu Sugar brought back an amazing Riesling pét-nat that cemented my desire to explore the country's wine scene.  [easy-image-collage id=20618] As I've only been to Bulgaria once before and wanted to do at least one non wine activity. In the end, I settled on a day

By 1Articles, European Wines, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  For my birthday in August, my friend Malia of Shoyu Sugar made SPAM musubis for me!! I remember eating SPAM a bit when I was a kid. My mom mixed ground SPAM with American cheese and white onions and we made hot sandwiches with it. I actually really kind of liked it. But it wasn't until I had Malia's musubis that I understood what kind of magic you can make with this meat.  I won't go into the history of SPAM or how deeply embedded it is in Hawaiian culture. Suffice to say, SPAM musubis are a common snack food in Hawaii. When she can get the ingredients, Malia

By 1Red Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Two years ago, I was privileged to try Paşaeli's experimental, super limited edition Karasakız Pét-Nat. Due to a supply chain problem, they were unable to make one for the 2022 vintage. Lucky for me though, everything came together for the 2023 vintage and I was again privileged to receive a bottle.  Karasakız has long been an underappreciated grapes here. Not unknown, not exactly rare. It has recently caught a lot more attention though with four wineries (since my last post about the Paşaeli pét-nat) making wine with it. Long overdue in my opinion! I'm so happy