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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 28)

By 1Amber Wine, Orange Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Not that very many things ever were fully closed for COVID (or not at least for long), but Turkey is more and more open now. As such, I decided it was finally time to get back to doing in person wine tastings! My first one recently had a small group of attendees in person (people I knew well who would bear with me during the moments when I forgot how to be in front of people again!) as well as online participants. To get back into the groove, I chose to do a tasting concentrating on a single grape: Yapıncak. Those who were with me virtually received tasting kits

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Wine Reviews

  We left the A. Gere vineyards on day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu and headed to their winery for a walk around tasting of Villány's 12 best Cabernet Franc wines. Villány and Cabernet Franc While Villány's historically most important grape is Portugieser, it is most renowned for Cabernet Franc. Here in what is called the 'devil's punch bowl' due to the intense heat the region receives, Cabernet Franc ripens both well and predictably every year. Plush, velvety tannins, ripe fruit flavors, and those lovely earthy and spicy notes that make Cab Franc stand out are on full display in Villányi Franc. PDO Villány wines have three quality levels: Classic: no

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  This is the first review I've done for this winery. And while I've now had a couple few of their wines, I still don't know what to call the winery. Is it Kayraklı Şarapçılık (as indicated by the URL)? Asarcık Şarap or Asarcık Bağları (both of which are on the website)? No idea, so I'm throwing them all up here.  Whatever its name is, the winery is based in the Muğla district of the Aegean. Founder Orhan Kayraklı planted his organically farmed vines in the Asarcık valley between the Bozdurun and Selimiye villages. The vines, completely surrounded by mountainous terrain, grow at 250 meters. Continuous winds cool the valley making

By 0European Wines, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  After our tasting and dinner at Lajvér Borbirtok in Szekszárd, we got back in our cars for the day's final drive. Happily, not three hours again. This time just one hour to get us to Villány. Half of us were dropped off at the winery Csányi Pincészet (producers of Teleki Villány wines) to stay in the winery's guesthouse. While day 2 involved a great deal of road time, day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu would see us in just this one location. [caption id="attachment_16460" align="alignright" width="451"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Villány Due to its location in the south of Hungary, near the Croatian border, Villány (pronounced vie-añ) is the

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rose Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  We left Tornai after our tasting to continue our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu in a different region: Szekszárd. But first, another three hour drive! There was lots of driving on this trip. I was pretty happy to not have to be the one driving at least! I'm usually the one behind the wheel. Plus, all these long drives gave us time to get to know one another. [caption id="attachment_16420" align="alignright" width="449"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Szekszárd  Szekszárd (sek-sard), was not entirely a new-to-me region in that I'd heard of it and had previously drunk some Szekszárdi wines. But I'd never been before this tip! Located in southern Hungary, a stone's throw from

By 0Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I am slowly slowly coming around to rosé. Well, I say "slowly slowly" but I'm discovering more and more wines that I enjoy. In fact, I dare say that I might be a full-on fan of rosé. I've avoided a fair number of wines because of my previously anti-rosé stance and I'm trying to correct that. Now I'm digging up pink wines I'd previously bypassed and have uncovered a couple gems! Prodom, one of Turkey's Aegean wineries based outside İzmir has made a rosé for years. I've never tried it. But when one of my favorite wine shops, Mensis Mahzen, recommended it, I decided to give it a go.

By 0European Wines, Sweet Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  We woke up on the morning of Day 2 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu at Dominium Pincészet in Mátra. After a quick breakfast (which was mostly us mainlining coffee like it was going out of style!) we piled in the van for our next adventure. My personal favorite wine region in Hungary: Somló. But first, a three hour drive to get there. [caption id="attachment_16390" align="alignright" width="498"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] Somló It might be Hungary's smallest wine district, but lack of hectares does not diminish its impact. Nagy-Somló includes three hills, Somló Hill, Kissomló, and Ság-hegy. A stunning site, Somló Hill, the main hill, rises steeply out of

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  After lunch at the Paris Passage, we headed east of Budapest to the Mátra region. With vineyards located on the lower slopes of the Mátra mountain range close to the border with Slovakia, this is Hungary's second largest PDO. Just west of Eger, the soils here consist largely of volcanic soils, sand, and loess which contribute to the region's signature aromatic whites and structured red wines. [caption id="attachment_16378" align="alignright" width="500"] Map courtesy of Hungarianwines.eu[/caption] White grape varieties here include Irsai Olivér, Rizlingszilváni, Olaszrizling, Zenit, Leányka, Hárslevelű, Sauvignon Blanc, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Chardonnay, and Tramini. For reds, Kékfrankos dominates but Turán, Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot. Getting to Know Mátra We arrived

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  The story of USCA Winery began some 15 years ago when a group of friends, fascinated by the world of wine, decided to open their own winery.  Leaving behind their “city” lives and careers they moved to the Izmir district of Urla and in 2003 established their vineyards. When the winery was ready to start producing its wine the owners were stuck for names for them. One of the owners happened to be reading a book of Shakespeare's sonnets. They hit on the idea of naming the wines after sonnets that somehow reflected the wine in the bottle. Sonnet 99 The forward violet thus did I chide: Sweet thief, whence didst

By 0European Wines, Sweet Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  For the last four years, Hungarian Wines EU, founded by the fantastic Ágnes Németh, has run a writing competition. This was the first year I'd heard of it (thanks to an email from Ágnes and a nudge from a friend!). I entered in two categories, was a finalist in one (you can read me piece here), and actually won! Huzzah! I never win anything. And this wasn't just anything to win. Winners from each of the four categories (four each in English and four each in Hungarian) were invited to participate in a three-day study tour in Hungary. As soon as I got confirmation, I booked a flight, contacted