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Rose Wine

HomeRose Wine

  Happy New Year!! It's a new year and we have a new look for the horoscope!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (or are anticipating one for our Orthodox friends!), Hannukah, and New Year! So, who made a resolution? If you did, hopefully it wasn't to stop drinking wine! Although while all of us in Turkey cower in fear of whatever the new ÖTV increase is, I can certainly understand the temptation to give up alcohol. On a less depressing note, I'm looking forward to seeing what new wines may get released this year from everyone's 2023 harvest. A few of those may even appear in someone's horoscope, so

  Every year - well every year that I remember - I like to do a quick review of the wines I tried or posted about during the year that I most enjoyed, that most surprised me, etc. This year the list is a little shorter than normal. Part of the problem with hyper focusing on such a relatively small wine industry is that

  Camilla from Culinary Cam has invited the #WorldWineTravel group to close out the year with celebration of sparkling wine and holiday nibbles! It's been a while since I've been able to participate in one of the group's blog events, but how could I possibly resist one featuring sparkling wine from literally anywhere in the world? [easy-image-collage id=20775] I jumped at the challenge and decided to go a slightly esoteric route with the wine and pulled out a Hungarian pezsgő, a German Sekt, and (thanks to a friend's contribution) a traditional method from Armenia. For the nibbles though I went simple with a tried and true cheeseboard and a crab rangoon twist

  For my birthday in August, my friend Malia of Shoyu Sugar made SPAM musubis for me!! I remember eating SPAM a bit when I was a kid. My mom mixed ground SPAM with American cheese and white onions and we made hot sandwiches with it. I actually really kind of liked it. But it wasn't until I had Malia's musubis that I understood what kind of magic you can make with this meat.  I won't go into the history of SPAM or how deeply embedded it is in Hawaiian culture. Suffice to say, SPAM musubis are a common snack food in Hawaii. When she can get the ingredients, Malia

  While actual autumn does not begin until later this month, the beginning of September heralds to many the end of summer. Summer vacation is over, people are getting back to work, school, to "normal" life. Even if you didn't have the whole summer off, there's always an intangible sense of freedom and ease during June, July, and August and a lot of people feel a little let down at the end of the summer season.  Don't dwell on the let down this month! Concentrate instead on the good things. In Istanbul, for example, the end of summer means the return of charity ice cream producer Soulful Scoops! It means

  Each one of America's 50 states produces wine. You don't have to be a wine aficionado to have heard of wine from California, Oregon, Washington, or New York. The more adventurous drinker of American wine may also be familiar with wine from Michigan, Virginia, Texas, or even New Mexico. But even the more 'unusual suspects' states produce wine, such as Idaho, Hawaii, and Florida. And yes, even that most northern of states, sitting on the 60th parallel, Alaska. Certainly it is not the first state that comes to mind when one thinks about winemaking! The climate is largely subarctic with pockets here and there of dry-summer subarctic and

  Used to be that Markogianni was not a winery with which I was familiar. A friend recommended their Vorias and Helios amber Assyrtiko to me some time ago. That one wine was all it took really to sell me on the whole winery. Subsequent trips have seen me tracking down more and more of their wines and I am dying to visit them.  Located to the far west of the country, near the Ionian sea and ancient Olympia,  Markogianni Winery is a family-run winery launched in 1982. They soon converted to organic cultivation and in 2001 were certified by DIO. Between their own vineyards and the growers with whom

  Summer is horrible. The entire season should be eliminated. Let's just extend spring and fall a month a and a half each and skip this miserable, hot, sweaty, can't afford air conditioning period.  Let's get on to what we're drinking in August! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) You've been spending a lot of quality time with your favorite people. Time with friends and family have invigorated you with passion and enthusiasm and you've strengthened your bonds with them by tending to their needs.  Other people’s problems are often easier to navigate than your own. But consider this: Are you avoiding the mess in your own life by fixing other people’s? The

  Çalkarası is what I like to call Turkey's 'Cinderella' grape. For a long time, winery's have used this grape as a work horse to make up table wines and cheap red and rosé blends. And yet, the grape has great capacity to make high-quality wines. How do we know that? To begin, because we know that we share this grape with Greece where it does make high-quality wines. In Greece, Liatiko (as they call it) is the 5th most planted grape and the star of Crete's robust wine industry. How did it get from Crete to the inner Aegean in Turkey (or vice versa)? Dunno. Nor do I

  Summer is in full swing and it's just begun. It's hot, tempers are rising with the temperatures! We all need something to cool us down. This time of year, most people want to reach for white or rosé because they're cold, they're refreshing. But, don't forget, you don't have to give up red wine during the hot summer months! Check out these chillable reds to start. And, even if your tastes run to heavier, full-bodied reds, don't be afraid to chill them for a little bit before drinking, especially given how hot our current "room temperatures" are.  So, let's get to it! What are we all drinking this month?