As is usual for Istanbul, we seem to have skipped right over spring and jumped with both feet into summer. I am not built for summer. Neither is my non air conditioned apartment. At least I have a wine fridge (conveniently located next to my couch, I can actually pull out wine without getting up which maybe tells you a little too much about me) so, even if I'm too hot, my wine isn't. Which brings us to the most important question
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This time of year is always fun for us winos. It's usually this late spring time when wineries start to trickle release new vintages of whites, rosés, possibly bubbles, and even a few of the more crushable reds. The Paşaeli Kabuğunda Co-Ferment, which the winery first released this time last year, has been in my writing queue for a wee little bit. Now the new 2025 vintage is out and I figure now is a good time to intrigue people into looking for the new vintage. I've written about Paşaeli a couple-few times (well over two dozen times apparently!!). So, since this is already preparing to be a long post,
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My adventures with Turkish wine importer, Fine Turkish Wine, continue! Well at least the writing of them does, the adventures themselves ended in November. And it's taking ever so much longer to write about these visits than it took to make them! After two days in Trakya (aka Thrace), visiting first Arcadia, then Arda and Gürbüz Winery we headed for the Aegean. In this region, our first stop was Kuzubağ, next to Heraki, then Kastro Tireli for a multi-winery tasting, and finally for our last stop in the Aegean, we made it to Akberg. So, buckle up, you're in for another long post. Akberg [caption id="attachment_22721" align="alignright" width="328"] Güney & Rob
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Happy May and Happy May Day! And I hope everyone in Istanbul is spending today safely
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I'm actually gearing up to write another lengthy post about a winery visit I made with Fine Turkish Wine back in November. It's taking me rather forever to get through these. But before I dive into another of those, I want to take a sec for a wine I keep meaning to talk about. The HUS Bornova Misketi. HUS Şarapçılık HUS Şarapçılık has seen more than its fair share of tumult and tragedy for a young winery. Ceylan Ertörer Diaz Leon and Juan Pablo Diaz Leon met while studying in Canada. While neither ever thought about having a life in wine, during a visit to Ceyaln's family in Urla, they both felt struck
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My adventures with Turkish wine importer, Fine Turkish Wine, continue! Well at least the writing of them does, the adventures themselves ended in November. And it's taking ever so much longer to write about these visits than it took to make them! After two days in Trakya (aka Thrace), visiting first Arcadia, then Arda and Gürbüz Winery we headed for the Aegean. In this region, our first stop was Kuzubağ, then we went on to Heraki, and then on to Kastro Tireli which hosted a mega tasting for us. Kastro Tireli It's been many years since I last visited Kastro Tireli, and I'm glad we were following José. I vividly recall
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The Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası, the newest of Turkey's wine route, has really come out of the gate at full speed with thoughtful branding, a slick website, an active social media presence, and special events. A couple weeks ago I attended a dinner hosted by the wine route. The guests were a quirky mix of winery owners and winemakers, marketing specialists, wine bar owners, social media wine influences, journalists, and somehow, me. [easy-image-collage id=22576] The evening began with an introduction to the wine route; its origin story, the inspiration, and the opportunity to taste some of the wines. We were then treated to a fantastic and not at all creepy puppet
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Has spring finally sprung? Based on the latest weather and the forecast, it's hard to tell. However, Easter is just around the corner, flowers seem to be blooming, and the few sunny days lately have given me hope. They say that spring is not for the faint of heart. It's a time of (re)birth when the earth heals from the scars of winter, birthing and healing are not comfortable situations. While everything may look pretty on the surface, remember what effort goes on to get those bud bursts to happen. If the earth can come back from winter trauma year after year, we can all have hope that we'll
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How I've never posted about this wine before is really beyond me. Sometimes, something is so obvious that you just assume you did it. Better late than never! When people think about island wines, minds reach out to Greece, the Canary Islands, Italy. As much as 'wine' and 'Turkey' rarely enter people's thoughts at the same time, 'island wines' and 'Turkey' cross paths even more rarely. And yet, Turkey has islands and they produce wine. Wines from Avşa often get overlooked and little makes it off Gökçeada, but Bozcaada is a different story. While rarely explored in depth, Turkish island wines have made a name for themselves locally. Much of that
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Another piece published on Winetraveler! Turkey Wine Guide: Discover Turkish Wine & Regions Most people picture Turkey as a land of vibrant bazaars, layered history, and turquoise coastlines. Few realize it is also one of the world’s oldest but most misunderstood wine countries. Grape cultivation traces its beginnings to eastern Anatolia, and wine has been made here since before history was recorded. Hittites, Assyrians, Phrygians, and other ancient civilizations made their mark on wine long before Greeks and Romans inhabited the country’s vineyards. Here like nowhere else cultures, terroir, and a treasure trove of native grapes blend to create a grand coupage. Producing high-quality wines almost entirely consumed domestically, Turkish vineyards remain
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