It's December! That means Christmas is around the corner! I truly love this season. This decorations, music, movies, jollity, the YouTube video of a crackling fire I play on my TV
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Quite some time ago (again, I drink faster than I can type) I received an exciting invitation to a wine masterclass in Istanbul: Georgian Wine in Focus. Organized by Sabiha Apaydın in coordination with the Georgian Wine Association, the masterclass introduced participants to some of the Georgian wines available in Turkey. Yes! Before you ignore this post because it talks about wine not available here, these wines are! Am I 100% sure where? Sadly, no. Because the shop that did have them, doesn't seem to anymore. But, the usual suspects to check would be La Cave, Mensis Mahzen, maybe Gözde Tekel, it's possible you might even see these at
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Cooler temperatures and grey skies mean that it is time to get cozy with warm sweaters and big wines! I used to like really full-bodied, tannic reds with lush fruit flavors when I wanted something for cold weather days. These days, though, I find these wines over-blown and too "in your face". I vastly prefer a medium-bodied red with more moderate tannins and a savory-earthy forward flavor profile. All our tastes change throughout the years. While I used to love Cabernet Sauvignon, I'd be happy to never again see another bottle of it. What's your go-to comfort wine? Will the universe bring you something this month that will challenge
Read MoreIt's a pretty rare day for me to post about wine from one of the "main" (aka Italy, France, Spain) European countries. Partially, because it's more difficult for me to get my hands on those but also because that's what almost everyone else writes about. However, some things are too exciting to not share. Such is the case with a wine I picked up on a trip (a while back) to Bologna: Leoni Conti La Mia Albana Progetto 1. Previously, I shared some notes on a few of the Lambruscos I got there. The Lambrusco grapes weren't the only native grapes I was hoping to find during my trip.
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Since I wrote an extensive post about 7Bilgeler quite recently (including travel information for anyone wanting to visit!) I won't rehash all that info here. We're just going to dive right into this (previously) obscure grape and 7Bilgeler's wine. Gök, the Sky Grape From the Mersin district in Turkey’s Mediterranean growing region comes the grape, Gök or Göküzüm. Mersin is far more well-known for its beaches and Mediterranean coastline than it is for grapes and wine, but this resort area’s hot climate isn’t where Gök makes its home. Grown in the Taurus mountains, high elevation helps mitigate the heat of the Mediterranean region. In mountain villages like Çömelek, Gök vines
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This post contains affiliate links While I was only in Bulgaria a few short days last summer, its wine left a lasting impression on me. I did several great tastings, found some fantastic wine bars, had my first canned pét-nat! and brought home some great wine. It's time to dive back into Bulgarian wine and talk about one of those great tastings - in fact the first one I did - at Sofia's Coupage. Coupage Located just a few blocks off Sofia's Slaveykov Square, Coupage Wine and Cheese is the brainchild of Aleksander Angelov. As the shop's name promises, it is more than wine (although that's enough in my opinion!). He also
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Iranian food meets Turkish wine? How often does this happen? Hopefully more and more often now if this Bitter & Sweet pairing inspires anyone! My friend Lorraine introduced me to The Caspian Chef some time ago. She tangentially knows him through a cousin and thought I would appreciate his style. I immediately fell in love with his recipes and way of cooking. So, when his cookbook, Bitter & Sweet came out, she got it for me. Apparently, The Caspian Chef - otherwise known as Omid Roustaei - and Lorraine's cousin 'do enjoy a wine of an evening' (imagine you're hearing this delivered in my friend's plummy British accent). So,
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Hello autumn! We passed the autumnal equinox last month, and it seems that the weather is responding appropriately with lower temps. Huzzah! I don't know about you all, but I am seriously looking forward to sweater weather. Let's hope October has more good things than just cool weather in store for all of us. I, for one, could really use a good break. Find out what kind of month the universe has in store for you below. Aries (March 21 - April 19) October is your month to shake things up, Aries! That project you’ve been dragging your feet on? Time to tackle it head-on and make it happen. You’ll be
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Every once in a while, you just have to treat yourself. Even if money is a little tight, or you know what you're buying is overpriced. Such was the situation in which I found myself when I learned about the Argos Nahita Dokya Emir Brut. When I first saw this, I was excited! A new sparkling wine! A new EMIR sparkling wine! But then I saw the price. Wine sticker shock is real here. But then Christmas came around (yeah, I really don't write as fast as I drink), so I decided to treat myself. Argos in Cappadocia Over the course of 10 years, Gökşin Ilıcalı transformed a small, neglected neighborhood of
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Disclaimer: I received these wines as samples. All opinions are my own. This article contains affiliate links. A couple years ago, I stumbled across Sagavin's wines, maybe on Instagram. I ordered a few bottles to give them a go, but unfortunately, they soon after fell off my radar. Sagavin has wines in maybe a couple few restaurants in Istanbul, but not in shops. I'd contacted the owner, Uğur, a couple few months ago as I wanted to make sure to include them in edition 2 of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine (coming soon! - I hope, I feel like I've been saying that for months). He reached back
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