When the Oenotrian wine club was still active in Istanbul*, one of the wines I received from them was a varietal Narince from Selendi. It blew me away (you can read my notes here). I drank the bottle from the club then ran out to buy more
Read MoreI've had a few wines before from Szászi Birtok and now they're one of the wineries I routinely try to find when I'm in Budapest. The very first of their wines I had was a Kéknyelű which immediately became one of my favorite grapes. On a not so recent trip, I managed to snag another of their wines: a Rózsakő. Szászi Birtok Owned and operated by Endre Szászi and his wife, Szászi Birtok is one of the oldest certified organic vineyards in Hungary. He farms 24 hectares on the southern slopes of Mount Saint George, Szigliget, Hajagos, and Lesencetomaj where he grows a wide range of grapes including: Riesling, Pinot Gris,
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Metro (think Costco) has a
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For May's #ItalianFWT topic, Linda of My Full Wine Glass has invited us to explore the wines of Abruzzo and Le Marche. You can read her invitation here. Don't forget to join us for our Twitter chat on Saturday, May 6 at 11 AM EST ! No need to have written a post for the event, jump in with the #italianfwt hashtag and let us know which wines from these regions you have enjoyed! Unusually, I was spoiled for wine choice for this event! In the end, I chose a Pecorino from Le Marche. I've only had this grape a small handful of times before but, loving acid as
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If you've had only a few Georgian white wines, chances are pretty good that it was Rkatsiteli, that most ubiquitous of Georgian white grapes. I've never particularly enjoyed it, myself, and actively avoid it. Even through my infrequent trips to Georgia though, I've seen a rise in less common grapes (both white and red) and find many of them so much more enjoyable. Like Chinuri. Chinuri The Chinuri grape seems to originate in Kartli, which is very near Tbilisi. Greenish-yellow to amber when fully ripe, it is fairly disease resistant even to phylloxera and can often be found planted on its own roots. Berries are fleshy, juicy, and sweet with
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Well April was kind of miserable, wasn't it? Hopefully it's true about April showers bringing May flowers. Given the amount of rain we got, if it is true, we're going to be drowning in flowers! But, temperatures do seem to finally be on the rise and soon we'll be reveling in the warmer temperatures and sunshine. The promise of such nice weather deserves some good wine to go with it! What will I - and more importantly you! - be drinking this month? Read on to find out! Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Be on the look out for major changes unfolding in your life this May. Achieving new heights
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Moldovan wine has been quietly moving into the Turkish wine market for a few years. Unsurprisingly, a fair amount from Purcari. The story of Chateau Purcari mirrors the story of Moldovan wine itself. In 1827 Tzar Nicholas I issued a special decree granting Purcari the status of the first specialized winery in Bessarabia. Run by German immigrants for most of the nineteenth century, the winery first achieved fame in 1878 when a bottle of Negru de Purcari won a gold medal at a Paris exhibition. Chateau Purcari went on to survive nationalization and the Soviets, several wars, and emerged into the new Republic of Moldova pretty much where
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I was so excited go see this new (well, not new anymore) Narince from Prodom last summer. For years I've enjoyed Prodom's wines but my prevailing complaint has been that they don't work with enough native grapes. Previously really only Bornova Misketi, Kalecik Karası, and Öküzgözü . Turkey seems to think it is a red wine country. Granted, it can do a great job with light to medium bodied red wines. Even if that's not the style focused on here. But that's a different discussion. Especially as my personal preference is for white wines, I am always happy to see a new (native) white on the market. Prodom generally
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It's been some time since Chamlija debuted its Teruar Serisi with rare white grapes Ten Göynek, Ak Üzüm, Hüyük Ak Üzüm, and Kuyucak Ak Üzüm. I reached out to Chamlija to clarify some questions I had about these. Ak Üzüm on its own is a little confusing. What little we know about Ak Üzüm comes from Mediterranean wineries Selefkia and Tasheli. A thin-skinned grape prone to disease, Ak Üzüm tends to prefer limestone soils where they grow as bush-trained vines, many of which are quite old. However, Ak Üzüm really just means "white grape". As it turns out, there are several "Ak Üzüms" floating around the Mediterranean. This reminds me
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Even if the weather doesn't know it, we are barreling toward spring's warmer weather. That means it's time to ease into cheerful and easy sipping white wines! But what if you can't decide between Turkey's two most popular (native) grapes, Emir and Narince? Drink a wine with both like Kocabağ Emir Narince! I'm a huge fan of the Kocabağ K Emir so, a while back when I was ordering wine from them, I thought, hey, let's throw in a bottle of this Emir Narince blend! Kocabağ Emir Narince, 2021 Kocabağ's Emir comes from its vineyards around Cappadocia but my guess is they bring the Narince in from Tokat. Nothing fancy here
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