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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 21)

  It's summer. It's hot. Unless of course you live in the southern hemisphere but, if you do, you're probably dreaming of summer now! These days, most of us are probably reaching for a cold white or rosé wine or even a light-bodied, chilled red wine. But pairing wine with a meal? Cooking?! What's that in this heat. Forget about it! This weekend, the #WinePW crew will be talking about their favorite way to beat the heat: Linda from My Full Wine Glass has invited us to share our favorite summertime wine and easy bites. You can read her invitation here. Whether or not you wrote a blog post for

  The Nif Bağları Aegean beyaz is not a new wine from Nif. They've been producing the Aegean series for several years now with white, rosé, and red blends. Always palatable in the past but nothing to get overly excited about. Then last year, Nif changed its blend. Whereas in the past the wine blended Viognier and Narince, for 2020, the winery added Solaris. My humble opinion, a much nicer blend! Nif has not abandoned the idea of a Viognier - Narince blend though. Rather, they've elevated it to the eponymous Nif Serisi level. But there will be more about that another time! Nif Bağları Aegean Beyaz, 2020 Unfortunately, I do not have

  Way back when I first visited Antioche in Hatay, they told me that one of the grapes they grew was Barburi Blanc. I was already familiar with Barburi from their wines. Antioche uses it in two varietal dry wines, in a red blend, and as a semi-sweet wine. But Barburi Blanc? Fast-forward several years now and the Barburi Blanc has arrived! This is no blanc de noir like the blanc de noir Papazkarası craze that's hit the country. This is a white version of the Barburi that we know and love. It could also be your new favorite summer white. Antioche Barburi Blanc de Blancs, 2021 Cool, pale lemon shot through

  Keeping true to its brand, last year when 7Bilgeler released a new white blend, the winery named it for an ancient philosopher. The 7Bilgeler Herakleitas is a little east meets west including as it does Chardonnay usually used in the winery's Anaxagoras wines and Emir from the winery's Vindemia series. I used to really love 7Bilgeler and its wines. Despite the fact that all the wines involved international grapes. Then the winery released the Vindemia series with native grapes and I got so excited! But then I drank them. I'm sorry to say that I think the winery's overall quality has fallen over the last couple years. A sad

  Last year on a visit to Athens, the owner of one of my favorite wine shops (Alpha Sigma) helped me pick out a few wines with unusual grapes. Now, I love me some Assyrtiko. Love. So, to combine that with my interest in less usual Greek grapes, he recommended the Domaine Mega Spileo Assyrtiko Lagorthi. [caption id="attachment_17701" align="alignleft" width="349"] How much do I love this back label?![/caption] Of course I jumped at this. Peloponnese Assyrtiko doesn't usually do it for me but I had to have this wine for the Lagorthi. I got it home, made myself a pork gyro since I can now bring home the frozen meat, and

  If you know me, you probably know that I don't like Kavaklidere. My dislike has nothing to do with its size; it being one of the largest (the largest?) wineries in Turkey. I don't like the attitude. Then last autumn, the winery released a new wine: Kavaklidere Cotes d'Avanos Emir. And darn it all, it's really good. Cappadocia and Emir   Emir is THE grape of Cappadocia. While now found in pockets around Denizli in the Aegean, the purity and linear quality of Emir requires the high elevations and volcanic soils of Cappadocia. You can read more about the grape itself in my Get to Know the Grape: Emir post. Also

  Nearly extinct until the 1970s, Kalecik Karası has become of of Turkey's most popular and widely planted grapes. While red wines remain the most common, the grape shows great flexibility and makes blanc de noir, rosé, and traditional method sparkling wines. Below are my picks for top Turkish Kalecik Karası wines (well the red ones anyway!). It originates in the Central Anatolian region, near Ankara, in Kalecik. Fairly adaptable, the grape grows across the country now and very often gives nuances of terroir. Known for its distinctive cotton candy aroma, Kalecik Karası at its worst is a simple fresh and fruity wine without complexity but with enjoyable fruit and

  Last year I received a tasting set of Riedel Winewings from their Turkish importer KTD. One glass each for Sauvingon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I use one every time I open one of those grapes, or a Turkish grape with similar properties. But it was not until I opened a bottle of Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay that I really put them to the test! An experiment in glassware Georg Riedel created the Riedel Winewings collection in order to maximize the qualities of these particular grapes. From the Riedel website: We chose a flat and stretched bottom, with a wing-like shape to increase the surface area between wine and

  What do you get when a popular wine bar and a great winery form a partnership? A whole mess of new wines, that's what! New wines like the Arda Kuşlu Solera Misket. Arda and Solera Solera is one of the longest-lived and successful wine bars in Istanbul. It also happens to be my local! So I have a soft spot for it and for owner Süleyman Er. Imagine my delight to learn that that for some years now he's been cultivating his own vineyards. Süleyman has made some progress towards renovating a 100 year winery on the shores of the Sea of Marmara as well. But for the time being,