Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi eu nulla vehicula, sagittis tortor id, fermentum nunc. Donec gravida mi a condimentum rutrum. Praesent aliquet pellentesque nisi.

Turkish Wine

HomeTurkish Wine (Page 32)

  Emir, the lord of grapes and grape of lords! One of Turkey's premier white grape varieties, Emir is thought to have earned its name (which means "prince" or "lord") by being a favorite at the table of princes and lords during the Ottoman Empire. Or perhaps the name is meant to show how finicky and difficult the grape is to grow! Native to the Mid-Southern, Central Anatolia region, Emir (eh-meer) shares its home with Turkey's famous Cappadocia. While the grape does not exactly take advantage of the hot air balloon rides; being at home in this region means it's not afraid of heights! This region has a generally high

  Yusta Bursa is one of Turkey's newest wineries which debuted its first vintage (2017) last year. With vineyards and the winery based in Bursa-"just" across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul it is the first winery to put down roots in Bursa. A family run winery n the business side, it is one of the many here to use Turkey-based French wine making consultant Jean Luc Colin. Bursa generally has a reputation for being a very conservative city. Tourism (both domestic and international) centers around Ulu Cami (the Great Mosque) and several religious tombs. However, more recently, the city has garnered a reputation as a foodie haven. Dinner and

  Syrah is the most popular international grape planted in Turkey. Not only is it the most popular international grape, it's one of the top three planted grapes overall here. Therefore, finding a Syrah-based wine (varietal or otherwise) does not present a huge challenge here. Turkish winemakers produce outstanding Syrahs in both Old and New World styles (although the latter feels more prevalent). I've had some really beautiful Syrah wines from Turkey over the last few years. I've also had some really bad ones. But we're not going to talk about those! Prodom Reserve Syrah, 2014 Based in Aydın towards the east of the Aegean growing region, Prodom uses Syrah in many

  While not the most widely planted native variety, Kalecik Karası holds a firm position as one of Turkey's Big Three black grapes. However, in the early 1970s, Kalecik Karası was very nearly extinct. Enter Prof. Dr. Y. Sabit Ağaoğlu. At the time, Prof. Dr. Ağaoğlu was working on a Ph.D. in agriculture at Ankara University. For his thesis project he decided to make a clonal study of the Kalecik Karası grape. From a few dried vines he not only earned his Ph.D. but also created a vineyard. And since he already had the vineyard, he and his wife decided to go ahead and make wine. They named their winery

  It's Christmas Eve!!! Huzzah! Based in the Kalecik village outside Turkey's capitol Ankara, Vinkara owner Ardıç Gürsel laughingly described the winery as "the largest of the small or the smallest of the large". When the Gürsel family founded the winery in 2003, size was not her goal. Featuring Turkish grapes was her number one and that's what they do. Vinkara's efforts in making fine wine with native grapes extends to Gürsel's number goal: to be the first to make a traditional method sparkling wine with a native Turkish grape. And that's exactly what she did.  Vinkara's Yaşasın, made with the not only native but local Kalecik Karası comes in a blanc

  Much like I couldn't not include a sparkling wine in the Advent boxes 'o wine; I had to also include a sweet wine. I have stacks of sweet wine. As greatly as I love it; I treat it far too preciously and need an 'occasion' for which to open one. The occasion ought to be simply that I want one! Perhaps I will make doing that my new year's resolution! Along with buckling down to study for my Italian Wine Scholar exam, studying my Greek homework more, finding a publisher for my book. Sigh. The new year is starting to look overwhelming! Of all the sweet wines I have, I

  For today's post I'm taking a slight departure in that these bottles did not come from the pre-selected Advent wines. I was asked to give a small (online) wine tasting. Having then opened three wines for this, and being my cat is a teetotaler, I deemed it unwise to open yet one more wine just to get something from the Advent calendar. And I cannot say I'm feeling particularly sad about the situation. I had a peek into the box and all but one of the remaining wines have been covered for more blind tasting challenges. As it was, we had a great tasting with most of the participants having

  This morning I got my second white wine designated for blind tasting. If I recall correctly, I put in only three whites for blind tasting which means one more lurks in there. No oak on the nose and delightfully floral and fruity. Young, I think. There's something quite familiar about it so I suspect that not only have I had this grape but that I have had this wine before. The nose didn't do it for me but after I couple sips I was almost sure I had a Turkish Narince in my glass. So how'd I do? Turasan Narince, 2019 Bam! Apparently I put a fair amount of Turasan wines in