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White Wine

HomeWhite Wine (Page 37)

  MMG Winery, owned and operated by the Güner Atalay family began as a simple hobby. However, after friends and neighbors expressed how much they liked the wine, the family threw everything into creating a full-blown, professional winery. The MMG Winery and accompanying restaurant, ŞatoInn clings to the side of a mountain overlooking the rest of the Urla Wine Route. I would highly recommend getting a car with more cylinders than the little Nissan Micro Istanbites and I rented. Our car did not want to make it up the steep, winding road! I probably was also not giving it enough gas since I was convinced that any burst of power would shoot

  Cenap And founded Kavaklidere in 1929 in the Turkish capitol Ankara. What started as a winelover’s dream to promote Turkish grape varietals has grown to become one of Turkey’s largest wine producers and exporters. Kavaklidere vineyards  encompass more than 650 hectares in seven locations: Aykurt, Côtes d’Avanos, Pendore, Kirşehir, Elazığ, Güney, and Kalecik and with a production capacity of nearly 20 million liters annually, it is not surprising that the company requires multiple production facilities. The main winery is still located in Ankara with smaller facilities in the north Aegean (Pendore) and Cappadocia (Côtes d’Avanos). Nearly 90 years after Cenap And began his journey to promote indigenous Anatolian grape varieties the winery continues

  I don’t often have the chance to drink American wine. While I’ve bought probably every California Zinfandel in Istanbul’s duty free shop (there are like three) that’s about the extent of what I get here in Turkey. So when I’m in the US I like to try as many as possible; like this Cardwell Hill Cellars Pinot Gris. Cardwell Hill Cellars Cardwell Hill Cellars in Oregon’s Willamette Valley was founded in 2000 by Dan and Nancy Chapel. They believe that good wine comes from good fruit and make every effort in their vineyards to ensure they get good fruit. To that end they practice a number of organic and biodynamic farming practices including dry

  One of the reasons why I love Turkey’s Suvla Wines is not only that they make wine at all price levels. In fact many of Turkey’s larger wineries do that. But not all seem to care if the wine is good. That’s what makes Suvla stand out. Their wines range from about $5 USD (at the current exchange rate) to $60. And they’re all good. Which is why I trusted them enough to try their new organic Chardonnay. Well, I say ‘new’. But it was new last year when I first drank it! I have a huge love-hate relationship with Chardonnay. When I first started drinking wine the popular thing to

  One of the wineries making up the Urla Bağ Yolu, Mozaik Winery sits in a place of idyllic, pastoral heaven. Vineyards run alongside paddocks keeping pace with the racing horses that are raised next to the winery. Trees dot rolling hills providing shade for grape and horse alike while airy stables dwarf the small onsite tasting room. Everything looks so calm and easy that at first glance you would think that the vineyards, winery, and stables simply appeared. However, it was hard work and passion that built everything. Planting the Seeds of a Dream In 2006 Ali and Melis Emin founded Mozaik Winery’s vineyards and the Mahrem label in the Urla

  LA Wines holds the record for being one of (if not the!) largest organic vineyards in Turkey. Wines at this beautiful Izmir estate are made with the same amount of care given to the vines. However, what I find the most delightful about this winery is its willingness to experiment and color outside the box. Istanbites and I recently had the chance to sit down with one of LA Wines’ winemakers, Ali Boz, and learn the history of this winery. Keeping it Clean In 2010 Lucian Arkas purchased the company Idol Wines. While he renamed the vineyards LA Wines, as a nod to the work done before him he kept the

  Italy is one of the few countries whose wines I nearly universally like. While the country is I think more well known for its red wines Italy does make a wide range of whites. I don’t have a lot of experience with Gavi but since it is located in one of my favorite regions (Piemonte) I had to give the Il Pozzo Gavi a try. In 1998 Gavi won a classification upgrade from DOC (denominazione de origine) to DOCG (denominazione de origine contollata), the highest classification in Italy. Because of its DOCG classification, Gavi production is carefully controlled. Wines may not be blended; they are made with 100% Cortese

  When the Yürüt family began to make wine, they didn’t know that they would one day be sharing their dream with a considerably large crowd of wine lovers. Their initial curiosity led them to research, read, discover, and eventually establish Bodrum Winery. Erhan and Füsun Yürüt began making wine at home in the 1980s. While initially everything was a trial and error method, their interest grew leading them to attend wine making courses, tasting events, and tour vineyards. Eventually they devoted themselves entirely to what was once a simple hobby. In 2010 they officially turned the hobby into a full-blown business in Kızılağaç, Bodrum. When Grapes Go on a Holiday At first

  I am lucky enough to have friends living in Athens who always have a couch for me to sleep on. For so many reasons, we do not have access to Greek wine in Istanbul. Which means that if I want Greek wine, this Domaine Foivos Asfothelos, it’s off to Greece for me. At least Athens is only about an hour’s flight away! The Rebirth of Mantzavino Domaine Foivos has a much longer history than its 1999 foundation would lead you to expect. Before it became Domain Foivos it was Mantzavino, one of the oldest wineries in Greece. As Mantzavino, the winery produced some of the finest Greek wines that gained fame all over the world,

  Turkey is home to hundreds, if not thousands of vitis vinfera grapes not found anywhere else. As with many winemaking countries some grapes are more popular than others. It is easy to find wine here made from grapes like Narince, Emir, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, and Boğazkere. But Yapıncak not so much. Very few wineries work with this grape. Really only Suvla, Paşaeli, and Sevilen. Yapıncak  Never heard of this grape? Not surprising. The Yapıncak grape is difficult to grow and prone to low yields even in good years. Its continued existence is down to the few winemakers who continue the struggle to cultivate it. Grown around Turkey’s Marmara sea, largely in Eceabat, Yapıncak