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Turkish Wine

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By 8Articles, Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine

  March brings any number of key days with which to mark the month. Fat Tuesday this year is the 4th. The 20th is the first day of spring. And on the 8th we celebrate International Women's Day. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of these women, in this piece I wrote for the Vintner Project. The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field. To celebrate these remarkable women,

By 0Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I was lucky enough to recently be invited to a tasting of Nif Bağları wines at Foxy Nişantaşı. As my focus tends to land on the wineries that work more vigorously with native grapes, some wineries, like Nif, often fall to the fringes of my drinking and writing. I therefore especially enjoyed this opportunity of returning to Nif's wines.  It was somehow only at this tasting that I learned why the winery is called Nif. I certainly have wondered (!) and cannot believe I never thought to ask. The winery is located in Kemalpaşa, İzmir. But, as with many cities in Turkey, the area has a much older

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. None of us had ever heard of the Black Sea grape Merzifon Karası before Likya debuted it as part of the winery's Arkeo line.  It seems it took another winery being successful with the grape for Diren, actually based in the Black Sea, to take notice and start making its own (far less superior imo) version. Then last year, Quinientos Dos (502) Vineyards, a new Black Winery, debuted its wines, including a varietal and a blend Merzifon Karası.  When I tried it last year (which you can read about here), I found a wild riot of

By 8Articles, Red Wine, Sweet Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine

  It might be the shortest month of the year, but you'd never guess with everything that February has in store! Of course there's pressure from many to make a big deal out of Valentine's Day for your partner. And then of course the pressure many singletons feel over having no one with whom to celebrate the day. We should all take a beat and remember the day commemorates a saint who was tortured then murdered as a martyr. So

By 0Rest of the World, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I've oft lamented the extent of international grapes used in Turkey. And, while I will always prefer native grapes, the international varieties have their place here. Especially the heritage varieties. Since the Syrahs and Chardonnays aren't going anywhere any time soon, I might as well start having fun with them. And so, welcome to the Taste Off! In this new series, I will feature a Turkish wine made with an international grape and pit it against a wine made with the same grape from a foreign country, either the grape's country of origin, or one well-known for its production. This week, I'm looking at Semillon. A heritage variety in

By 0Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  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

By 8Amber Wine, Articles, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White 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

By 2Amber Wine, Articles, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine

  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

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

Ali and Fatma Ay were enticed into moving to the Mersin area in their retirement. What enticed them, you might ask. The heat? The beaches? The beautiful Mediterranean water? Nope. Patkara. Local wine made with this little heard of grape seduced them into not only moving to the region, but opening a winery. And, largely thanks to their efforts, Patkara has re-emerged onto the Turkish wine market. [easy-image-collage id=20798] Patkara’s home vineyards sit high in the Taurus Mountains at a minimum of 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) with some vineyards reaching even greater heights. Limestone bedrock is studded with marine fossils and, in many places, has given way to karstic landscapes.

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Saudade (sauw-dad) is one of those great words that has no direct translation in English. It's a Portuguese and Galician word derived from the Latin for solitude, but means so much more. Described often as a "Portuguese way of life", saudade encapsulates a "constant feeling of absence, the sadness of something that's missing, wistful longing for completeness or wholeness and the yearning for the return of what is now gone, a desire for presence as opposed to absence