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Turkish Wine

HomeTurkish Wine (Page 7)

  For many of us, our first encounter with amber wine, wine made in amphora, or "natural" wine was with a Georgian wine. While many countries have for centuries made wines thusly, the global trend and enthusiasm for such is often attributed to Georgia. Wine trends come late to Turkey, but they do come. These started quietly with Gelveri and have since spread. Now finding orange wines does not take much effort and a growing number of people are making amphora wines and "natural" wines. What happens though when a trend isn't a trend, but culture? Does that change the wine? For those who poo-poo amber/"natural" wines, does culture make

  Canan at Gordias doesn't make a lot of white wines. But when she does, like her Nana Narince and Fesleğen, they're worth tracking down! I recently revisited the Gordias Sauvignon Blanc and don't know why it took me so long to do so! While her Kalecik Karası and some of her other reds are pretty accessible, this isn't an easy wine to find. I had to get it direct from the winery. Absolutely worth the extra effort though if you're a Sauvignon Blanc lover! This is one of my personal favorite Turkish Sauvignon Blanc wines. Gordias Sauvignon Blanc, 2021 Golden lemon-lime in the glass, the aromatics came rushing out of the glass

  Not all wine names are obvious immediately (or at all!) until you ask about the story behind them. One of my favorite Turkish wine name stories is that of the Arcadia 333. But Arda Dokuz Sekiz has a pretty great one too. Dokuz Sekiz - 9/8 The name here is actually pretty simple - dokuz sekiz means nine eight and refers to the 9/8 music time signature. Music written in 9/8 time has nine beats per measure with each beat being an eighth note. Meaning that, even if not all the notes are an eighth note, the notes in each measure will add up to nine eighth notes. Okay, that's cool.

  Really, what is the obsession some of the upper Thracian wineries seem to have with making blanc de noir wines with Papazkarası? Sure, some of them are pretty nice. My personal favorites being those from Chamlija and Arcadia. And yes, it's great to see experimentation with the native grapes. Especially as this seems to be the only Thracian native grape going. Why do I have such a viscerally negative reaction, then, when I see a new blanc de noir Papazkarası? Even I can't answer that. I like to see a new blanc de noir Çal Karası. Maybe it's because I feel sure that there must be a native white

  Of all the grapes in Turkey, Boğazkere remains one of (if not the) most tannic and full-bodied varieties. So why am I talked about this wine, literally called "throat scratcher" in summer?? Because Heraki has pulled off a much lighter style that you can enjoy even in this hot, summer weather. I've been crushing hard on Heraki, as you can tell from my posts about their Akuarela Sultaniye and Akuarela Çal Karası. This wine only makes me love them more! Even when I started drinking Turkish wine 10 years ago, finding a decent Boğazkere was difficult. When made clumsily, the wine presents harsh, tannic, bitter or goes the other

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Some time ago, Midin sent me several of the wines from their new vintage. I previously posted about the white wines so let's crack on now with the rosés! We all know that I have mixed thoughts about rosé wines. While I don't universally love them, I have come around them more over the years. I tend to prefer those with lighter colors, not necessarily because I like a lighter, Provence-style rosé, but because in Turkey, those are the "safer" ones. Many rosés here come in neon or otherwise impossibly pink colors.  Midin's rosés fall into a

  Holy cats July was miserable! Horrible, hot weather including the hottest day Istanbul has had in years. During which, no less, my precious wines and I were without power for almost 48 hours! That was not in my horoscope. Here's to hoping that August will be a little milder.  I don't know about you, but all I want to do these days is crush some nice, light white wine. Let's see if the future has any of that in store for us! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Strap on your seatbelt and be prepared this month to steer your life into a new direction - emotionally speaking. You'll come to

  Last year I fell in love with Kuzubağ wines. They came out of the gate with seven very successful and reasonably priced (a miracle here these days) wines. Kuzubağ has returned with its sophomore vintage now and it's already looking very promising.  They've added new wines to the stable this year, both white and reds. I still love all the white wines from their freshman vintage so I immediately snapped up two of the new ones: a Bornova Misketi and a Çal Karası blanc de noir. Kuzubağ, part of the Çal Bağ Yolu, is located in the Çal district of Denizli in Turkey's inner Aegean. The winery’s vineyards sit at