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
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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
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[easy-image-collage id=20889] This past summer, I took a trip I've been wanting to make for a few years now: Sofia. Bulgaria may not be on the top of everyone's travel wish list (although it should be, it's beautiful!) but it's been on mine for a while now. Why? Wine, naturally! I've heard great things about Bulgarian wine and two years ago, Shoyu Sugar brought back an amazing Riesling pét-nat that cemented my desire to explore the country's wine scene. I felt absolutely charmed by Sofia. It is an adorable little city, very easily navigable, with much to see. It's quite sophisticated and has a robust wine bar scene. Although I
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Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm invited our wine writers group to explore any (wine) topics that tickle our interest for 2025. We know I like wine from underappreciated and often unexpected countries, so I decided to use some newly acquired wine and explore Albanian wine. I've yet to actually visit Albania, although it is pretty high on my list; and not just for wine! I spent years working on projects in Kosovo during which I visited Pristina many times and became rather enamored of Albanian music and literature. My Kosovar friends and colleagues tried to teach me some Albanian, all of which I've totally
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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
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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
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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
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Grape providence can be a tricky thing, particularly where there are shifting borders involved. When researching background on the grape Pinela (or Pinella or Pinello), I found no less than three origin claims. All generally within the same-ish area, but different nonetheless. Wine-Searcher and Wine Grapes have the grape hailing from Veneto while all the Slovenian sites I checked claimed it is from Vipava Valley where it grows exclusively (which could be true if they mean not elsewhere in Slovenia). Finally, Wien Plus diplomatically places it in what is probably the most likely place: the general Goricia/Gorizia region that Slovenia and Italy share. Whatever the case, today in Slovenia,
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Camilla from Culinary Cam has invited the #WorldWineTravel group to close out the year with celebration of sparkling wine and holiday nibbles! It's been a while since I've been able to participate in one of the group's blog events, but how could I possibly resist one featuring sparkling wine from literally anywhere in the world? [easy-image-collage id=20775] I jumped at the challenge and decided to go a slightly esoteric route with the wine and pulled out a Hungarian pezsgő, a German Sekt, and (thanks to a friend's contribution) a traditional method from Armenia. For the nibbles though I went simple with a tried and true cheeseboard and a crab rangoon twist
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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
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