Possibly a better title for this would be, "Can you say Csókaszőlő?" LOL. I happened to be in Budapest on what was a national holiday. Furmint, Olaszrizling, Kadarka, Kékfrankos
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Surrounded by mountains and the verdant forests of the Black Sea region, the district of Amasya lays about 120 kilometers from the Black Sea. Although near the sea, Amasya sits high above the coast and has an inland, hot summer Mediterranean climate. While tea might be the most famous crop to come out of the region, Amasya is well-known for its apples which grow well here. And maybe soon
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Camilla from Culinary Cam has invited the Italian Food Wine Travel writing group to explore the vast world of indigenous Italian grapes this March. You can read her invitation here. Of all the major wine players in the world, Italy has almost* more indigenous varieties than anyone else with over 500 officially identified grapes so there's a lot to explore! [easy-image-collage id=20064] Join us for a live Threads chat on March 9 at 11 am EST/8 am PST where participating bloggers and others interested in the subject will connect and chat. You can definitely still join the blog event if you're not available for the chat. Despite my love of Italian
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It's a little strange for me to post about wine today in Ash Wednesday. Today is a fast day which means I will not be drinking any wine at all. Sad for me. And yet, it is #WineWednesday so, here we are! I've flirted with some of Kastro Tireli's other low intervention / "natural" wines. My favorite still being the Hermos Bornova Misketi. I recently realized that I had not yet tried the Kalecik Karası though so I moved to immediately rectify that! Kalecik Karası hails from Central Anatolia, just outside the capitol Ankara, in Kalecik. Whence the grape's name. You can read more about the grape here! Kastro Tireli
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In the September 2023 Turkish Wine Horoscope post, I promised a review of this wine and here it finally is! Yaban Kolektif is a group of wine professionals and enthusiasts dedicated to reviving some of Turkey's rarer grapes. Not having a winery of their own, they cooperate with other wineries (mostly Vinolus lately) and winemakers to release their wines. From Yaban's Instagram: Yaban is a step taken to reunite viticulture and winemaking in Turkey with its past and forgotten values. We lost our rich viticulture culture, winemaking techniques, traditions, festivities and rituals in a short time after the natural disasters and forced population exchanges in the last century. It will perhaps
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Over the last several years, 7Bilgeler has slowly released a series of wines, the Vindemia series, made with native grapes. Some have been more successful than others. I'm very excited to try the Karasakız, which I really really hope they haven't managed to mess up. But in the meantime, the Öküzgözü. 7Bilgeler Vindemia Toprak Öküzgözü, 2021 Like many (if not all) of the native grape wines 7Bilgeler has released, the grapes for the Vindemia Toprak don't come from the winery's Aegean vineyards. Owner Bilge Yamen sources them from the home of Öküzgözü, Eastern Anatolian district Elazığ, specifically Karaçavuş Köyü. The vineyard sits at 1540 meters in clay and limestone soils, and
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Every year - well every year that I remember - I like to do a quick review of the wines I posted about during the year that I most enjoyed, that most surprised me, etc. So with no further ado, let's jump into my favorite Turkish wines of 2023! My Favorite Sparkling Wines There weren't many new sparkling wines released this year. And frankly, with the skyrocketing price of most Turkish bubbles, I didn't really drink much. And while the Paşaeli Karasakız Pét-Nat may not be a fair wine to include, as it was a super limited bottling, it nonetheless gets a spot. My Favorite White Wines Over the last few years,
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Normally I quite like the wines from Büyülübağ. Other than his Adakarası wines, I don't tend to drink them often because I don't really need or want more Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah
Read MoreToday's wine is one I've had a fair few times. Two of my best friends live in Athens but her family is from Kalavryta in the Peloponnese. Tetramythos is one of the few wineries there and they've taken to buying a half case every time they drive to the village. The winery produces quite a few wines, but they tend to buy mostly the Mavro Kalavrytino, the local black grape. Eva laughs at me every time I have to talk about it because, while I can say 'Kalavryta' no problem, for some reason, putting the 'mavro' before it completely trips up my tongue. Advent day 18 Tetramythos Mavro Kalavrytino, 2020 Deep and
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This particular wine is another review long in coming. I opened it last winter for Open That Bottle night. I bought this when I visited Barbare to interview the owner for my book. That must have been six years ago now? Barbare wines are generally fairly easy to access, but these premiere varietal wines less so which is why I'd been holding onto it. Worth. The. Wait! Advent day 15 Barbare Premiere Mourvedre, 2012 This 100% Mourvedre aged for 36 months in French oak. Knowing that it would be tight out of the bottle, I opened it, decanted it, then went to Saturday evening Mass before coming home to make dinner and
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