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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 45)

  Happily day two in Edirne was only about 35-36 C and not 38 because we had to bundle up several times to visit some more mosques. I was really looking forward to visiting the Arda winery but before we could get there we had to fill E’s need to see and do everything possible so we started the day at the Eski Camii (Old Mosque) located just down the street from the Selimiye Mosque. This is possibly the most uniquely decorated mosque I’ve ever visited. Rather than tiles or frescoes, the Old Mosque, completed in 1414, is almost stark of decoration except for the giant Arabic calligraphy inscriptions that

  A few weeks ago E&M, R, and I headed out of Istanbul. None of us had ever been to Edirne, the old second capitol of the Empire, and on a roll after Bozcaada, I wanted to visit a few area wineries, particularly Chamlija. So we rented a car and headed out to adventure. Adventure that was made both hilarious and painful long before we ever got to our destination thanks to Google Maps’ incredibly bad Turkish pronunciation. I realize it’s just a computer but come on. I mean think goodness I wasn’t the navigator because I truly had no idea what she was saying. Once we got into Edirne it

  I almost don’t even know where to begin with this. E and I set off on what was to be a relaxing weekend break at a winery spa in Bulgaria-it turned out to be something rather different. We left early so we could pick up our rental car at the airport and get the four-hour drive out of the way; unfortunately the travel troubles began right away. Enterprise’s system was down (“system problem” are words we often hear in Turkey) so despite arriving at their service counter before 9AM it wasn’t until 11 that we were finally on the road. With no traffic barring our way the drive through

  On our second day on Bozcaada we shared a fantastic Turkish breakfast with our hosts that included products from the island and their own gardens as well my new obsession: tomato jam. But tomato jam Turkish style which means they were whole, kind of candied tomatoes in sugar syrup. Apparently they’re soaked in lye to give them their crunchy texture? After breakfast we headed for our first wine adventure of the day-to the Amadeus Winery. Amadeus is owned by an Austrian man who grew up in Turkey who turned a family hobby into a business. I was very luckily to be able to talk to the owner for a while

  My adventure at Suvla was only a small part of my recent trip. I was invited with my friend T to visit some friends of hers (happily now also of mine) at their beautiful home, Lavender Breeze Farm on the island of Bozcaada where we visited the Corvus and Talay winemakers. We were invited to stay in The Priest’s House, a beautiful house they’ve rebuilt on their property which they rent out on AirBnB (check out the link!). Look at these rooms! T and I were prepared to stay forever. I found it a unique house in that the living room/kitchen and both bedrooms were independent from each other. Both bedrooms

  I recently had the opportunity to spend time on Bozcaada and was able to visit the Suvla winery in Ecebat. First of all, I wish I’d realized years ago how easy it is to get to the Suvla winery. The main reason I don’t visit Turkish wineries is because I don’t drive and it’s not like they’re exactly conveniently located. Suvla, in Eceabat, is a short ferry ride away from Canakkale which in turn is serviced by a daily flight out of Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul. Had I but known! Walking into Suvla was a little, as my friend put it, like arriving at the mother ship. The Suvla

  I’ve been terribly neglectful about both having and writing about the Hauteville Grand Vinde. This was a gift from a colleague last summer and we just opened it a few weeks ago. Gozo is one of the islands that make up Malta and is apparently known for being the most fertile climate in Malta and some of the best Maltese vineyards are located on this island. My colleagues lived in Malta for a while and told me that what she learned there is that, when speaking about wine, that you can’t just say ‘Maltese’ wine, you have to identify with the specific island. So this Hauteville Grande Vinde

  I had the Paşaeli K2 last summer at my birthday dinner at Ali Ocakbaşı and it was fantastic. Unfortunately Paşaeli is not really a pocketbook friendly wine although buying at Solera does help. The shelf price for the K2 is 90 TL but if you get it to go at Solera you pay %25 less making it a far more reasonably priced bottle. I drank this bottle with some friends and colleagues in what I know call the inadvisable night of five bottles. Five bottles shared among four people should not be a problem. Unfortunately it was. I am too old to be having red wine-induced hangovers on a

  I’m always surprised when I go to Macro Center by how many wines the store doesn’t have. It has a very small alcohol selection, in fact I think my local Carrefour has as many or more varieties. However what Macro Center’s selection does have going for it is the odd bottle here or there that I’ve not seen anywhere else; which is how I ended up with this bottle of 2013 Gülor Öküzgözü Malbec for 71.50TL. Macro Center has an odd pricing structure. Gülor wines are from Şarköy which makes them part of Turkey’s Thracian wine trail; my preferred wine region in Turkey. Since I had such luck with

  The 2012 Likya Podalia has become my go-to bottle when I take people to Dai Pera – which is my go-to restaurant. It’s a nice medium bodied wine that suits just about any palate and isn’t challenging for people who don’t have a lot of wine experience. Likya Podalia is a Kalecik Karası Malbec blend (75TL from La Cave) which has the added benefit of being both exotic for people who don’t know Turkish wines but also comfortingly familiar. The nose is fascinating…cotton candy and tobacco all swirled together with raspberry undertones. Sounds a little weird but not uncommon for these wines. Kalecik Karası is known for having cotton candy