Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi eu nulla vehicula, sagittis tortor id, fermentum nunc. Donec gravida mi a condimentum rutrum. Praesent aliquet pellentesque nisi.

Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 44)

  It’s been ages since I’ve had an Öküzgözü Boğazkere blend. As much as I enjoy trying the native grape wines in Turkey drinking the same three reds (Öküzgözü, Boğazkere, and Kalecik Karası) and blends of the same does get old. I was, however, only too happy to take up a friend on her offer of a glass of the Turasan Öküzgözü Boğazkere that she brought to a Thirsty Thursday event. In the glass the Turasan Öküzgözü Boğazkere was a ruby red bordering on purple, bright and clear. The nose was dark/black fruits. On the palate it was very tart, no tannin, and little bit of a cliffhanger; something of a surprise for

  I was so excited when I found this Kayra Vintage Zinfandel at La Cave (66 TL)! It’s been ages since I’ve had a Zinfandel-not only my favorite American wine but the only reason I think the California wine industry should exist. I was really looking forward to seeing what Turkey could do with a Zinfandel. And then I had and my hopes were dashed. I haven’t had a Zinfandel since moving here. Not because they aren’t available. In fact one of my favorite California Zinfandels is available right at La Cave. I just cannot stomach paying a 300% mark up for a wine I know shouldn’t cost more than

  The 2013 Chamlija Thracian … where has this been all my life? This, for me, is hands down one of the top wines being produced in Turkey right now and is one of my two absolute favorites here. I’m so overwhelmed by this one that I’m a little at loss for even where to start with this. Over the summer I visited Chamlija’s tasting restaurant where we had the privilege to do a tasting with founder and owner Mustafa Çamlıca. While we didn’t taste this there, we did discover that Chamlija makes many more wines than I’ve ever found in Istanbul. The best news? They ship! Which is particularly relevant to this

  For a very brief time I tried OK Cupid in Turkey. It was a largely uneventful experience but I mention it because it was while on a date that I found this week’s wine. He knew I was a wine lover and asked me to recommend a bottle so we wandered into a shop over in Karaköy (I know! I went to Asia for this guy but he was pretty cute, and tall, and a doctor). I was expounding on the merits of different wines when I saw the Prodom label. I started to tell him that if he wanted to invest the money then Prodom was a

  Christmas is almost here! You know what that means? It’s mulled wine season.  My former roommate and I used to make mulled wine together regularly in the run up to Christmas and I continue that tradition even here in Istanbul where Christmas is sadly not so much a thing. There are so many recipes and traditions out there for mulled wine but we’ve always preferred the German Glühwein. On our shared blog, ParMieux Adventures she explains the tradition of Glühwein and what the name means.I’m going to let you wander over there and check it out while I stay here and drink it. There’s something about a pomander that I just love. They’re kind of

  My first encounter with the Chamlija Felix Culpa happened in the same way I discovered many of Chamlija’s wines…there was one bottle, just the one, sitting on the shelf at La Cave. Anytime that happens with a wine maker I really like I get the bottle and I was so glad I did that with the Felix Cupla. A happy mistake Which was another thing that attracted me to this one. Felix Culpa / Mutlu Hata (happy mistake)…why that name? The grape is a Pinot Noir but this isn’t Chaamlija’s Pinot Noir wine. Chamlija has two Felix Culpa wines-one this Pinot Noir and the other a Chardonnay and while I

  It has been a busy few days full of wine. On the one hand, my two best friends moved out of Turkey but on the other I seem to have joined-however accidentally-the Turkish wine tasting community! Last Thursday was E&M’s impromptu going away party. They left Turkey on Saturday for their next adventure so Thursday Em, J, and I went over to theirs to drink their remaining wine. The next day marked my December Turkish wine tasting. At a suggestion from a friend, this wine tasting focused all on wines from the Aegean region. nitially I only had plans to do four wine: the Paşaeli K2, the 7Bilgiler Phytagoras (review coming

  A colleague recently brought two bottles of this 2012 Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee back from Beirut for me to try. While she prefers the 2010, the 2012 was all she could find but apparently the Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee is one of her favorite Lebanese wines. Being as she herself is Lebanese I will trust her judgement. The 2012 Marquis des Beys Grand Cuvee is a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% abv. Between the hand harvesting and oak treatment the grapes receive you can tell that they care about their wines at Marquis des Beys and if this is any example of the quality of their

  Everything you need to know about the 2009 Barbare Elegance is right in the name: elegant. Barbare is a top-shelf, organic wine producer here in Turkey; I’ve only had two of their wines so far but they were both amazing. Of the two, the Barbare Elegance is my favorite. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvédre, this gorgeous red wine will set you back a pretty penny; about 89 TL at Macro Center, 140 TL at Solera, and somewhere in between at La Cave. I brought this over to M’s a while back and we both swooned over it. The nose, reflective of the Barbare Elegance ‘s color is very dark. I got

  This was another case of letting the guys at La Cave talk me into something. I figured for 40 TL I wasn’t taking that big of a risk with the Süryanı Şarabı Levy Matiat. I am so glad it wasn’t a larger investment. Assyrian wine Süryanı Şarabı is a traditional Assyrian wine maker from Mardin, Turkey. There are very very few Assyrians left in Turkey, many have fled due to the Kurdish conflict which has hit Mardin particularly hard. The tiny population that remains has been trying to revive the wine industry which is both a fantastic and difficult undertaking. Not only do they have to replant vineyards torn out