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White Wine

HomeWhite Wine (Page 30)

  [caption id="attachment_14489" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chreli Abano sulfur baths[/caption] Georgia is a perennial favorite destination of mine. I like to go at least once every other year or so. Past trips have been to visit wine regions like Kakheti; once to see the Pope and meet the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church; another time for a wine festival. My last trip was a whirlwind three and a half days in Tbilisi for an eating and drinking extravaganza. When I'm in Tbilisi I'm generally pretty lazy about where I go. I already have a handful of favored restaurants and wine bars (Vino Underground, g.Vino, Pastorali, Azarphesha to name a few) so I

  While I have been extremely lucky during this COVID pandemic, in that I have neither been sick and have kept my job; it is not to say that I'd not getting itchy feet. [caption id="attachment_14476" align="alignleft" width="300"] Taken inside the Bridge of Sighs, Venice[/caption] Some borders are opening back up and people are tentatively planning travel. I cannot wait to get out of Istanbul having missed planned trips to Hungary and Greece. However, I believe I'll be stuck a little while longer yet. Europe is slowly opening but restrictions on people coming from Turkey are strict. And fair enough. The government here did a crap job to control the spread

  Sauvignon Blanc enjoys great popularity in Turkey. It, along with Chardonnay, are not only the two most popular white wines here; they're even more commonly found than any of the native white grapes. Wineries across the country cultivate the grape but it's largest production is in Turkey's Aegean in Denizli. And with summer's warm temperatures approaching I'm getting thirsty for some Sauvignon Blanc! [caption id="attachment_14368" align="alignleft" width="300"] Denizli Vineyards[/caption] While all these Sauvignon Blanc wines are from Aegean region wineries; not all are created equally of course. However, the below wines are all great examples within their respective price ranges. Pamukkale Anfora Series For the more budget conscious people is the Sauvignon

  For my next online tasting, I tackled what is probably the most popular native white grape in Turkey: Narince. I went a little overboard and opened six different wines for myself. Honestly I had to stop myself from adding a seventh and an eighth! Luckily I had a few in person tasters along for the ride who helped me finish off most of the wine! Narince has a really 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

  I've had a couple few Juhfark wines in the past. But I think I'd never actually tasted Juhfark until this bottle of Fekete Pince Somlói Juhfark. In the early 1970's, Béla Fekete founded Fekete Pince on the southern slopes of Somló Mountain in western Hungary. Through his careful viticulture and winemaking Fekete built something of a legendary reputation in the area. During his winemaking career he earned the moniker of ‘Grand Old Man of Somló’. Fekete retired in 2014 and sold his winery to Ákos Dölle, György Emmert, and Gábor Riesz who carry on the traditions he began. The smallest wine region in Hungary, the volcanic Somló Mountain stands out as

  My foray so far into Slovenian wine has been limited but highly rewarding. I first visited Ljubljana with a dual purpose in mind: Christmas market and, of course, wine. Accompanied by Istanbites, we met up with friends E&M to spend a few days shivering in a proper winter environment while delighting in the Christmas atmosphere and museums, and imbibing to my heart's content.  We found Ljubljana to be utterly charming. A city made easy for walking, we wandered from cafe to church to castle to museum to wine bar. We didn't make it out of the city on this trip but I hope to do so on a future

  After the Bornova Misketi taste along went so well I moved on to one of my favorite Turkish black grapes, Kalecik Karası. Not only is this purported to be the most age worthy grape, it's also one of the most flexible. In addition to making great reds that reflect their terroir, Kalecik Karası can also be used for blanc de noirs, rosé, and even sparkling wines. While I miss having people physically present for the tastings (if not all the dishes after!) I am really loving doing this online. Now I can reach so many more people! I had people from Athens and Belgium in the Bornova Misketi tasting

  A few years ago I started offering monthly wine tasting events out of my apartment. Focusing on Turkish wine, I used these not only to introduce other people to how good Turkish wine can but, but also to train myself and expand my own wine knowledge. And then in March the whole world shut its doors. My daily life didn't change much, I already work from home. But social distancing and self isolation became standard. I canceled my scheduled tasting and retreated to my wine room with my cat. But I missed the tastings! They're so much work and physically exhausting. Also it's a pain to hand wash six

  I recently gave an online taste along about the grape Bornova Misketi. While the trend has turned to making dry wines with this grape, there are still a few quality sweet wines around. One of which, the Sevilen Late Harvest, I included in the tasting. It feels like ages since I wrote a sweet wine review so, while I only just drank this, this post is overdue. Sevilen, one of Turkey's largest wineries, makes some of the country's most recognizable labels with 20 different labels across five quality categories. The Late Harvest wine belongs to the winery's Ultra Premium series.  Sevilen Late Harvest 2013 Tasting Notes Made with, as the name

  I recently read an article in Forbes by the great wine writer Dame Wine about British sparkling wine producer, Nyetimber. While I had the absolute privilege of visiting a couple British sparkling wine producers a few years ago, neither was Nyetimber. However, through some connections, I have been able to at least get my hands on a couple bottles of their wine here in Istanbul. In her article, Dame Wine gives tasting notes for several of Nyetimber's vintage sparkling wines. I don't have those kind of connections! But I have been able to drink the Classic Cuvee on more than one occasion and also got to try the Blanc de