Yeah, I've lost track entirely of how many of these I've done. Based on the color alone I'm guessing young. Turkish. I think this a Turkish grape. I'm going with young, moderate alcohol, unoaked, Öküzgözü. Or maybe Kösetevek? Gah! How do people do this? And once again I am horribly humiliated by almost everything. Chateau Tamagne Saperavi, 2018 So yeah. A Russian Saperavi. We have that in Turkey. Because
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For today's post I'm taking a slight departure in that these bottles did not come from the pre-selected Advent wines. I was asked to give a small (online) wine tasting. Having then opened three wines for this, and being my cat is a teetotaler, I deemed it unwise to open yet one more wine just to get something from the Advent calendar. And I cannot say I'm feeling particularly sad about the situation. I had a peek into the box and all but one of the remaining wines have been covered for more blind tasting challenges. As it was, we had a great tasting with most of the participants having
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This morning I got my second white wine designated for blind tasting. If I recall correctly, I put in only three whites for blind tasting which means one more lurks in there. No oak on the nose and delightfully floral and fruity. Young, I think. There's something quite familiar about it so I suspect that not only have I had this grape but that I have had this wine before. The nose didn't do it for me but after I couple sips I was almost sure I had a Turkish Narince in my glass. So how'd I do? Turasan Narince, 2019 Bam! Apparently I put a fair amount of Turasan wines in
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This lovely little number has been showing up in shops around the 'Bul lately. I've had it before and from that experience knew I had to include it in the Advent wine calendar! I needed at least one bottle of bubbles for the calendar. This wine is so cheerful and happy which made it a great fit! A large-scale wine producer, Collis Riondo managed 6,000 hectares(!!!!) covering all the main production zones in the Veneto. The winery makes both sparkling and still wines under several labels. However, in Istanbul we see only this Riondo Cuvée and two or three of the still wines from their Castelforte line. Cantine Riondo Cuvée
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You might perhaps notice the different Christmas tree. I took to the road for this particular wine tasting challenge. Which in reality was far less sexy than it sounds. Really I just took the bottle to a friend's for dinner and we did the challenge together. From the start neither of us were a fan of this. We could tell it was young, had little to no oak ageing, and was likely a low to mid-range Öküzgözü Boğazkere blend from a large format winery. I further supposed that we were drinking a cool-climate wine with probably moderate alcohol around 13.5% abv. So, did an extra brain help me guess correctly?
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To be honest, this wine did not come out of my boxes 'o Advent wine. I happened to be at a friend's for dinner and she served this with dessert. But I thought, why not include it? I did after all drink it during Advent. So that counts. Georgian wine has a growing popularity in Turkey. However, so far what we get here are European-style wines (i.e. not qvevri aged or skin contact) from the larger, factory wineries. And while Badagoni fits into that large-format category, their wine is not available in Turkey. This I think she got in the UK of all places - which apparently imports a
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Completely by coincidence did I include this bottle in my Advent boxes 'o wine. December has seen both #CabFrancDay (December 4) and a #WinePW Cabernet Franc around the world. Naturally I blogged about Turkish wine for both events. I've never had Cabernet Franc from France, or anywhere else in Europe. But what I've come to realize from these events is that Turkish Cabernet Franc leans more New World in style. The wines here don't have the high acidity and austere elegance of their European counterparts. Rather they display the riper fruit and structure of New World wines. Vino Dessera Cabernet Franc, 2018 It's been a long time since I've seen a
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After several days of no blind tasting I felt sufficiently recovered to tackle another today. As I spent all weekend making Christmas goodies I was ready for some wine! Coquito ice cream, decorated orange-spice sugar cookies, two kinds of truffles
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The third white wine out of the Advent box o' wine yielded another import from South Africa - a Chenin Blanc. I've had this wine once or twice before and find it delightful. When the importer does a sale on it I usually buy one or two. And today I was so happy to have grabbed out this one as I have left over Indian food for dinner and suspect it will pair well with the wine. Jordan Bradgate Chenin Blanc, 2017 From Stellenbosch, South Africa, this is actually a blend of 87% Chenin Blanc and 13% Sauvignon Blanc. Appearance: bright lemon with pale green highlights Alcohol: 13.5% abv Nose: Love at first whiff! The
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No blind tasting for today, huzzah! That gives my brain a little bit of a break. If you read the title and thought to yourself: Sobran? Where in Piemonte is that? Well the answer is that it's not. In Piemonte. Nor is it in Valle d'Aosta nor in Lombardia or anywhere else in Italy. Sobran Bağları is a Turkish winery based in Alaşehir in the Aegean. This 2018 vintage was not only the winery's first release of Nebbiolo, but the first in Turkey. Sobran Bağları Nebbiolo, 2018 A family-run winery, Sobran Bağları started planting in 2007 eventually expanding from a small vineyard to 31 hectares that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Öküzgözü,
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