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Turkish Wine

HomeTurkish Wine (Page 13)

  Sagavın Winery's wines still reside totally under the radar. I've seen them at the odd shop here in Istanbul but not widely. Which is a shame. I'm not going to pretend that they're the greatest wines or even anything above mediocre because they're not. And yet. They're pricing their wines exactly as they should - not always a guarantee anywhere, especially not here! For that reason alone I think it's a winery worth supporting. Wine can improve. Egos and price inflation rarely do. I've tried a number of Sagavın's wines so far, the rosé was a nice surprise! And now that temperatures have cooled off a bit, I can

  The Gordias Kalecik Karası Beyazı was one of the standout wine surprises I found this spring. I think it's been around for a while but Canan's wines aren't always easy to find. The first time I tried it was this past May's CMC event and it was love at first sip.  She's billing the wine as "Beyazı" (white) but it's really a very very pale rosé. Kayra also makes a similar wine, the Allure Kalecik Karası Beyaz. White, pink, purple, blue

  For years, Kastro Tireli has made one white wine: a Viognier Narince blend. Then they added a skin contact version of the same blend. Fast-forward to this year. Kastro Tireli released three new white wines: varietal reserve Narince and Viognier and an off-dry Viognier.  Limited availability, I've only seen them at a few places (namely Casa Botti and Santé Wine & More) and a little scary expensive. Especially the off-dry. But I had to pull the trigger on the Narince because I've always been curious as to what a 100% Narince from them would taste like.  Kastro Tireli Narince Reserve, 2019 What makes this "reserve"? Since there were no winemaking notes

  Büyülübağ owner Alp Törüner  experimented with micro vinifications of wild fermentations for a few years before releasing his first commercial bottling in 2015. While perhaps not the first such wine on the market, the Büyülübağ Wild Ferment Cabernet Sauvignon was the first wine to label itself a 'wild ferment'.  Törüner feels a deep connection with Cabernet Sauvignon. Two of his aunts (by marriage) are French and they brought a lot of their culture into the family, including the practice of drinking wine with meals. He first visited France when he was 11-12 years old and even at that early age was captured by the country and wine.  The grapes for

  Over the last two vintages, the Vino Dessera Entrika line has expanded both its offerings and its reach across Turkey. For the 2020 vintage, Vino Dessera debuted its Entrika Emir and the Entrika Narince for the 2021 vintage. Itself based in Kırklareli in Thrace, Vino Dessera's own vineyards grow a variety of (mostly international) grapes. The winery has long sourced native varieties from their respective "homelands": Öküzgözü from Elazığ, Çalkarası from Denizli, etc. With a combination of grape sources, how do you know where they're from? Check the graphic on the back label! Vino Dessera's wines include a small map of Turkey that pinpoints the grapes' origin. Vino Dessera

  Summer isn't over quite yet! We're having some cooler days (which I quite appreciate!) but also still seeing spikes into the 30s. On those days, a nice rosé liked the Uçmakdere Cinsault Roze helps chase a way the heat! Uçmakdere winery sits right at the edge of the Sea of Marmara in the same-named village in Şarköy. It's one of a few remaining wineries from 19th century that opened onto the water to allow the easy loading of wine onto ships for transport. A family-owned winery where daughter Işıl Bulutsuz makes the wines. At the moment they're heavily focused on international varieties. However, last year Işıl teased that we

  Last fall when I visited Likya, they told me about a new rosé they were trying to release: Fox. Made from a new (for us) grape called Tilki Kuyruğu, which means "fox tail" the winery wanted to call their wine Likya Fox. This simple action sparked a lawsuit. But before that story, the grape.  Rather than the bog standard "black from somewhere" (i.e. all the grapes here that are something kara), Tilki Kuyruğu has a fun name. It means, as I mentioned above, fox tail. Named because the bunches are quite large with several cascading lobes that thin out at the bottom creating a fox tail-looking bunch. Elsewhere in

  This month, Cam from Culinary Adventures with Cam has invited the #Winophiles group to explore French Grapes that Crossed Continents. You can read her invitation here. Often I cannot participate in the winophiles events because I don't have access to most of the French wine. But French grapes in Turkey we have in spades! [caption id="attachment_18233" align="alignleft" width="299"] Arcadia PetNat w/rendang & chili corn[/caption] Whether you've written a post for the theme or not, join the #Winophiles conversation on Saturday, September 17 at 11 am EST by following the hashtag on Twitter. French influences on Turkish wine When the modern Turkish wine industry got started in the late 30s and early 40s,

  Back in the day when we were researching my book, E and I were invited to stay at Argos in Cappadocia. This fascinating hotel's story began in 1996 when Gökşin Ilıcalı bought some land in Uçhisar on which to build his own house. However, while digging to set the building's foundations, he unearthed the remains of an ancient neighborhood (mahalle). From that moment, his plans changed. Under the supervision of expert architects, historians, and the cultural and natural heritage preservation board, he spent years excavating and restoring the neighborhood. Now the hotel occupies 13,500 square meters with expertly restored and decorated rooms, event halls, restaurant, and a wine cellar. And if