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Red Wine

HomeRed Wine (Page 6)

  It sure felt like spring had sprung during the second half of February. Even my crocuses are blooming! But my experience both here and being from a northern state says that we shouldn't get too comfortable yet and that winter may once again rear its cold, snowy head. It likely won't be pretty when it does! Especially not for me as I've already been enjoying wine on my balcony.  What have I been drinking? Well, you'll have to check previous blog posts for that! What will I - and more importantly you! - be drinking this month? Just read on to find out! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Aquarius, do

  Granted we're going through a weird warm streak at the moment in Istanbul, but that's doesn't mean winter is over. It often makes itself know again at an inopportune time. When that happens, reach for one of these top cozy Turkish red wines that feel like a hug to keep you warm! Gordias Boğazkere, 2012 Hands down, Gordias's is one of my favorite Boğazkere wines. Canan brings her grapes for this in from Diyarbakır and ages the wine little, if at all, oak. One would think that might be walking on the edge with a tannic grape like Boğazkere, but it works! Medium opaque ruby, not as deeply colored as one would usually

  Pamukkale really want to you to know that the Pamukkale YT Boğazkere is a special wine. Not only was it bottled in an overly heavy format bottle, it also came wrapped in paper, resting in its own padded box. That's a lot of fanfare. Did the wine live up to it? Boğazkere isn't a grape we see a lot from Pamukkale in its premium wines. Mostly the winery focuses on international grapes for its top tier wines. However, it went native for this one which came out as a special, limited edition bottling celebrating winemaker Yasin Tokat's 50th harvest. I don't generally go in for Pamukkale's wines. But, seeing

  I don't write much about Kutman wines (anymore). While the winery continues to put out new vintages, it hasn't released a "new" wine of late so it's fallen a bit off my radar. However, I happened to have a bottle of the Kutman Kalecik Karası gathering dust in my wine room. I bought it years ago when we visited for the book interview. At first it just got shuffled around and then it started to get older and I wanted to see how much longer I could age it.   Finally curiosity got the better of me and I opened my Adnan Kutman Kalecik Karası 2010. But before we get

  Two years ago, I won a writing contest about Hungarian wine run by Hungarian Wine.EU. You can read my winning piece here! Part of the win included a study tour to several of Hungary's wine regions. On our first day, we spent the night at Dominium Pincészet.  We tasted several of their wines at a Mátra regional tasting and later at their winery were able to taste a few more. That's where I learned about the grape Turán. And, after learning that it was my birthday, founder Dániel Orbán very kindly gifted me with a bottle! Dominium Pincészet Dániel Orbán, one of the founders of  Dominium Pincészet found inspiration in his father's

  I didn't have a horizontal picture of this wine so I hope you enjoy this picture of Sherlock lounging in one of my serving dishes.  I've had my eye on Chatzivaritis for a while and would love to visit this estate. I initially fell in love with their Migma Pét-Nat and have since had the chance to try a number of their wines. One I was particularly excited to bring home was this Carbonic Negoska, Negoska being a Greek grape that I don't know very well. And there's nothing I love so much as learning about new grapes! Κτήμα Χατζηβαρύτη / Chatzivaritis Estate Chatzivaritis Estate, founded by Vagelis Chatzivaritis and his wife

  I don't know about you all, but the beginning of 2023 did not treat me well! Despite vowing to not participate in dry January, circumstances forced a two week fast on me. So, I feel quite happy to see the end of the month. Hopefully February will treat me better! Given my lack of drinking last month, I have many plans for February. What will you be drinking? Read on to find out! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Aquarius, brace yourself for frustrating drama. This is going to be a roller coaster month for you with ups and downs and swells of turmoil. The part that really sucks is that

  Foça Karası is a grape we still don't know a lot about in Turkey. In Greece, where it's known as Fokiano, it's grown mostly on two or three of the Aegean islands where they use it in red, rosé, and sweet wines. In Turkey, Foça Karası grows in the Aegean region in the (surprise) Foça district outside Izmir. Two of the Urla wineries include small amounts in red blends and Öküzgözü Şarapçılık has been the only winery making varietal wines with the grape.  Until now.  I don't write about Yazgan a lot. Partially because I've had cause several times to be highly annoyed with them but also because, aside from the

  Akberg winery is off and running since its addition of "real" vs fruit wine (for more on that check out this post). While it puts a heavy emphasis on native grapes with wines from Narince, Bornova Misketi, Papazkarası, and lesser known varieties like Osmanca; the winery also makes a few international grape-based wines. I first tried their Shiraz, which they source from vineyards in Denizli in the inner Aegean, at one of GustoBar's tasting events. It wasn't my favorite (spoiler) but I found it