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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 51)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Two of my best friends have just moved to Istanbul and I haven’t had time to take them through the do’s and don’ts of Turkish wine yet; so I wasn’t really shocked when I turned up for dinner and found them with a bottle of Sava Premium. “Premium”. Snort. I love them but they are very much ‘wine tastes like wine’ people; at least they sprang for the premium. I’m always game to try a new wine though so here we go. Perhaps I was predisposed to give it bad notes but for me the Sava Premium was awful right from the start with a vinegary nose; or maybe

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Despite living in Istanbul for two years; one of them right next to the famous French Street which high volume live music keeps me awake many nights until 2-3 AM; I had never actually gone to the street until a few weeks ago. Restaurant selection is very much like that in Sultanahmet; you walk through, brushing off touts until you’re ready to give in and sit somewhere. We ended up in a pretty decent place with a pretty excellent (if over priced) wine from the Shiluh winery in Mardin. Sadly on looking for Shiluh wines at Cihangir’s Le Cave I was told they neither have any nor expect to

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I was in the Suvla shop the other day looking for gifts for friends moving here. I thought they should have some nice wine before the harsh realities of the overall wine situation here came crashing down on them. The shop recommended the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (at I think 28TL) Suvla blend and since I hadn’t tried it yet myself I got one for them and one for me; and am so glad I did. The pretty garnet red (and the fact that this came from Suvla) gave me high hopes for what was to come. Now, I must warn you, I am about to wax tipsily

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Since my Carrefour has remodeled and renamed itself a Carrefour Gourmet (which as far as I can tell means that it simply has a less well designed interior and higher prices) I have found a few new wine labels. I was thrilled when I saw this Büyülübağ Vedat Milor (30-ish TL if I recall) was one of the new options. When asked which country I think produces the best wine I will always say Spain first (Italy second and Argentina third) so seeing a Turkish wine blend that includes Tempranillo and Grenache made me do a little happy dance right there in the Carrefour Gourmet wine section. Unfortunately the

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Whenever I go into Carrefour I take a quick look at the wine section to see if I can find red wines at a) I haven’t tried yet, b) aren’t massively over priced, and c) aren’t Merlots. My options are dwindling. I did manage to find something from Sevilen’s Majestik line that I haven’t tried yet; its 2013 Syrah/Kalecik Karasi blend. I find that I tend to enjoy the flavor of a wine more if I feel it has a pleasing color. This must be some sot of subconscious something but holds true in this case. I thought the dark purply-red color was lovely. I’d love a dress in

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  In addition to the its already overwhelming selection of excellent wine; Suvla also produces a series called Kabatepe-a table red, white, blush, and rose. If the Suvla Kabatepe red, which we’re reviewing today, is an indication of the complete series then Suvla has done the impossible…produced an under 20TL wine that is GOOD! Garnet in color with a fruity and slightly spicy nose, the 2012 is a busy blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 47%, Merlot 21%, Syrah 21%, Petit Verdot 8%, and Cabernet Franc 3%; with a flavor profile indicative of the three most dominant grapes. Juicy, slightly acidic with light tannins and hints of raspberry and pepper, this wine is consistent

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  This week we’re diverting from Suvla. Largely because I saw a bottle of wine at Carrefour last week that I don’t recall having seen before. The Kutman Ipsala Gamay – Cabernet from 2005. Gamay is about the only wine for which I will forgive the French. In fact I was fairly well set on making France a parking lot for Europe or giving it to Germany after I take over the world; but my friend L pleaded for it. She gets France and Ireland and my interference in her rule will be minimal. Ish. But I digress. At 38TL the Kutman Ipsala is right around the price point I have

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last week I went to the Suvla shop in Cihangir for a bottle of Sur, completely forgetting that there were two. When I was stumped by which one to try the shop suggested getting both Suvla Surs to do a side-by-side comparison. Never one to turn down a good opportunity to drink yet more wine I happily accepted the proposal and bought both. Suvla makes two Surs, one a 2011 and the other a 2010. Both are blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot (although in different percentages). Let’s begin, as I did, with the 2011. Suvla Sur 2011 Tasting Notes A dense garnet red the nose of

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  It’s December and yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent which means that it’s officially time to start playing Christmas movies and music and, more importantly, start drinking Gluehwein! Which for me means that it no longer matters that Turkish wine generally isn’t good. Also luckily, good wine is neither needed nor recommended for Gluehwein so for the first time I bought a bottle of the cheapest wine (10 TL / 5 USD) on offer here: Sava; specifically the Sava Çalkarası Merlot. And while I meant it from the beginning for Gluehwein I thought I’d make a proper tasting of it before adding tons of sugar. Everything has at least one

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I was both excited and trepidatious going into this Suvla Merlot. On the one hand…Merlot; blech. It rhymes with ‘no’ for a reason. One the other hand…Suvla hasn’t really disappointed me so far and the Suvla Merlot blends have been fantastic.  So here we go. The 2013 Suvla Merlot had a nice dense ruby color. Plum and cranberry on the nose; the bottle label said I should also be getting pepper in the nose but for me at least not so much (Sherlock had no comment). It was a bit tight when I first tried it. This one wants air so be prepared for that. In the mouth the