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By 0Articles, Travel, Turkish Wine

  I'm so excited that my first piece for Food Wine Travel Magazine was published today!  Discover Turkey's Unexplored Mediterranean Wine Region Beneath my feet lies an ancient wine press, carved deep into the mountain’s limestone bedrock countless centuries ago. Around me, gnarled bush vines twist out of the rocky soil, some 80 or more years old. From this high plateau, more than 5,000 feet above sea level, the air feels fresher. The sky stretches endlessly overhead, a burning blue. Not far to the south, the bright turquoise of the Mediterranean echoes the sky. While I could be in the vineyards of Priorat, Cinque Terre, or Provence, I’m not. I’m in a

By 1European Wines, Red Wine, Travel, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This post contains affiliate links While I was only in Bulgaria a few short days last summer, its wine left a lasting impression on me. I did several great tastings, found some fantastic wine bars, had my first canned pét-nat! and brought home some great wine. It's time to dive back into Bulgarian wine and talk about one of those great tastings - in fact the first one I did - at Sofia's Coupage. Coupage Located just a few blocks off Sofia's Slaveykov Square, Coupage Wine and Cheese is the brainchild of Aleksander Angelov. As the shop's name promises, it is more than wine (although that's enough in my opinion!). He also

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: I received these wines as samples. All opinions are my own. This article contains affiliate links. A couple years ago, I stumbled across Sagavin's wines, maybe on Instagram. I ordered a few bottles to give them a go, but unfortunately, they soon after fell off my radar. Sagavin has wines in maybe a couple few restaurants in Istanbul, but not in shops. I'd contacted the owner, Uğur, a couple few months ago as I wanted to make sure to include them in edition 2 of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine (coming soon! - I hope, I feel like I've been saying that for months). He reached back

By 0Rose Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Label designs for wine is a big business. As with any company working on its marketing plan, a winery has to decide how it wants to present itself. Do they have an old-school Schloss or Chateau vibe? Do they want people to think of them as young, fresh, or unpretentious? Depending on the vibe they're going for, a winery might have a whole concept and their labels reflect one specific style. Or maybe they have (sometimes wildly) different styles for different wine series.  And then there are the times when a winery, with a very specific label style, releases a new line with entirely new branding. That's what happened

By 2European Wines, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Travel, Wine Reviews

  This post contains affiliate links Last June I visited Sofia for the first time. What a charming little city! Which maybe sounds slightly condescending but a) I don't mean it that way at all and b) almost anywhere is little when you live in Istanbul. I had a marvelous time exploring the Bulgarian wine scene there. For people like me who don't like to drive, the city offers quite a few opportunities to learn about and experience the wine. One of the places where I got a great crash course was Tempus Vini.  Tempus Vini Kalin Kushev's passion for wine went from hobby to business when he opened Tempus Vini in

By 1Rose Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  *this post contains affiliate links A couple weeks ago, I flew to Izmir to give a wine tasting for a group from Roots Adventure Travel. It's been years since I last visited the 7Bilgeler winery, so I felt pretty psyched about going for the tasting. Over the years, 7Bilgeler has slowly added native grape wines to its portfolio, which reminded me that I'd recently opened a bottle of one of its newer wines: the 7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé. Karasakız While there are many grapes in Turkey I like, some of which I like quite a lot, my favorite Turkish black grape is undoubtedly Karasakız.  More well-known as Karasakız ("black gum"), the

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  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

By 1European Wines, Red Wine, Sparkling Wine, Travel, Wine Reviews

  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:

By 0Travel

  Some months ago, I visited Bologna and took a side trip to Modena for the sole purpose of doing a balsamic vinegar tasting. You might be thinking, Hang on, vinegar?  But you do wine. You do Turkish wine. And yet, here we are. To be fair, balsamic vinegar is fermented grape juice, so I'm not all that far off my usual topic!  I've known balsamic vinegar for what seems like ever. I cook with it, make salad dressings, splash it in oil for dipping bread

By 2European Wines, Red Wine, Travel, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 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.  [easy-image-collage id=20618] As I've only been to Bulgaria once before and wanted to do at least one non wine activity. In the end, I settled on a day