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Sparkling Wine

HomeSparkling Wine

  Since my last post had me mourning my inability to travel this spring and waxing lyrical about last year's March trip to Bologna, it seemed only fair I should also remember fondly a domestic trip from last March: Mudurnu.  Mudurnu is a deep-rooted historic town located in the western Black Sea, in the province of Bolu. A historic guild town situated on the Silk Road, it was an important center of trade, crafts, and culture in the early Ottoman period.  [easy-image-collage id=21175] Nestled in the Mudurnu Stream valley, the town stretches between the rocky and forested hills of the Abant Mountains to the northeast, the Kocaman Mountains in the southwest, and

  This post contains affiliate links I am semi-recently unemployed and poor. One of my cost-saving methods (aside from no longer buying wine like it's going out of style) is to cease traveling, which is depressing. Especially since quick and easy access to Europe is a good third of the reason I put up with living in Istanbul. Nowadays though, my travel takes place mostly in memory. [easy-image-collage id=21131] This time last year, I enjoyed a few days in Modena and Bologna. If only I could be there now!  Bologna After arriving in Bologna, I did a quick little walk around the center to orient myself before heading off to complete my first mission:

    [easy-image-collage id=20889] This past summer, I took a trip I've been wanting to make for a few years now: Sofia. Bulgaria may not be on the top of everyone's travel wish list (although it should be, it's beautiful!) but it's been on mine for a while now. Why? Wine, naturally! I've heard great things about Bulgarian wine and two years ago, Shoyu Sugar brought back an amazing Riesling pét-nat that cemented my desire to explore the country's wine scene. I felt absolutely charmed by Sofia. It is an adorable little city, very easily navigable, with much to see. It's quite sophisticated and has a robust wine bar scene. Although I

  Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm invited our wine writers group to explore any (wine) topics that tickle our interest for 2025. We know I like wine from underappreciated and often unexpected countries, so I decided to use some newly acquired wine and explore Albanian wine.  I've yet to actually visit Albania, although it is pretty high on my list; and not just for wine! I spent years working on projects in Kosovo during which I visited Pristina many times and became rather enamored of Albanian music and literature. My Kosovar friends and colleagues tried to teach me some Albanian, all of which I've totally

  Narince has an interesting story. While one can now find it in many places around Turkey, its home is the Black Sea region district of Tokat. A number of wineries own vineyards there but most contract with independent growers. This has become a problem though. While winemakers strive for quality wine, they are thwarted in their efforts by receiving damaged fruit from growers. The Narince leaf is traditionally used to make stuff grape leaves here and growers sell to both leaf wholesalers and wineries. A later-ripening variety, by the time the grapes reach peak ripeness, vines have already been denuded of leaves so a good chunk of the

  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

  It's CHRISTMAS!!! Well almost. But my decorations are up, I've already dived into the rabbit hole of terribly fantastic Hallmark movies, and am thinking about which wines to serve for Christmas dinner. And speaking of wine and Christmas, never underestimate how appreciated a good bottle of wine is as a gift!  With the chillier weather here, we are fully into red wine season, but don't forget, there's no wrong season for white and rosé wine if you prefer those! Although I for one am hoping for a cold winter this year to encourage me to clear out some of the bottles of red from my wine room. But what

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Two years ago, I was privileged to try Paşaeli's experimental, super limited edition Karasakız Pét-Nat. Due to a supply chain problem, they were unable to make one for the 2022 vintage. Lucky for me though, everything came together for the 2023 vintage and I was again privileged to receive a bottle.  Karasakız has long been an underappreciated grapes here. Not unknown, not exactly rare. It has recently caught a lot more attention though with four wineries (since my last post about the Paşaeli pét-nat) making wine with it. Long overdue in my opinion! I'm so happy