Founded by Umay Çeviker and Levon Bağış, Yaban Kolektif is an effort to, as their website says, "
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Spring has officially sprung! Sure, the temperature dropped a bit there in March, but (knock on wood) we seem firmly settled into spring now. I don't especially have a green thumb. That does not stop me from gardening though and I am full on into it. April showers bring May flowers and all that. I'm thinking of buying a grow lamp for the darker rooms in my apartment. Do you like to garden? What are your favorite things to do when that fresh smell of spring fills the air? April can be a beautiful month, especially with the tulip festival coming soon! But spring is a harsh season. Rebirth
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Since my last post had me mourning my inability to travel this spring and waxing lyrical about last year's March trip to Bologna, it seemed only fair I should also remember fondly a domestic trip from last March: Mudurnu. Mudurnu is a deep-rooted historic town located in the western Black Sea, in the province of Bolu. A historic guild town situated on the Silk Road, it was an important center of trade, crafts, and culture in the early Ottoman period. [easy-image-collage id=21175] Nestled in the Mudurnu Stream valley, the town stretches between the rocky and forested hills of the Abant Mountains to the northeast, the Kocaman Mountains in the southwest, and
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Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. This March, to celebrate International Women's Day, Camilla from Culinary Cam invited those of us in the Wine Pairing Weekend writers to look at women in wine. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of some of these women, in this piece I wrote for Vintner Project. The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field.
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March brings any number of key days with which to mark the month. Fat Tuesday this year is the 4th. The 20th is the first day of spring. And on the 8th we celebrate International Women's Day. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of these women, in this piece I wrote for the Vintner Project. The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field. To celebrate these remarkable women,
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Canadian wine doesn't often fall into my hands. Luckily, my partner in wine crime Emma's Baked Goods went back to Montreal for a visit this past autumn, and brought back a couple wines to share! I love traveling friends (more so than ever now that I'm grounded). Thanks to her, I got to try the La Bauge Les Beaux Jus Frontenac Blanc. Vignoble de la Bauge In 1986, Alcide and Ghislaine Naud decided to transition from dairy farming to wine production. Together with brothers Alain and Jacques Brault, they founded Vignoble de la Bauge. Their vineyard began with Seyval Blanc, followed by Chancellor vines. Fast-forward to 1997 when Alcide and Ghislaine's
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[easy-image-collage id=21004] I was lucky enough to visit Crete a couple years ago. Unfortunately for my friends and I, we experienced one of the worst Decembers the island had seen in years. While we had a few moments of clear skies, driving rains, lower than normal temperatures, and high winds did not create an overly welcoming atmosphere in Chania. Nor did the earthquake. But there was wine! And, thanks to my friend Anna Maria of Chania Wine Tours, we got a fantastic look into Cretan wines. Lyrarakis Wines [easy-image-collage id=21011] Crete is really exciting place for wine lovers right now. Not only is the island home to a kind of surprising number
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I was lucky enough to recently be invited to a tasting of Nif Bağları wines at Foxy Nişantaşı. As my focus tends to land on the wineries that work more vigorously with native grapes, some wineries, like Nif, often fall to the fringes of my drinking and writing. I therefore especially enjoyed this opportunity of returning to Nif's wines. It was somehow only at this tasting that I learned why the winery is called Nif. I certainly have wondered (!) and cannot believe I never thought to ask. The winery is located in Kemalpaşa, İzmir. But, as with many cities in Turkey, the area has a much older
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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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