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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 4)

By 2Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample but all opinions are my own. Narince is such a fantastically flexible grape. We've seen it in on its own, in blends, no oak ages, too much oak aging, skin contact, sparkling, and semi-sweet. It makes a wine for every palate.  For years, Arda has made a Reserv Narince. It's a beautiful wine, one of my favorites. But, I've always wondered why the grape wasn't a regular part of its Kuşlu lineup. I am thrilled that now there IS an Arda Kuşlu Narince! And, after an email exchange with Arda's winemaker Şeniz, while I still don't know the answer to why it

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: Tomurcukbağ flew me to Ankara for the experience but all opinions are my own. The wineries in Kalecik have not traditionally encouraged visiting. When Tafli opened a few years ago, they were really the first to do so. It's a shame, on several levels, that wine tourism isn't more encouraged in Kalecik. It's literally the home turf of one of the country's greatest grapes. There are multiple wineries all relatively close to one another. It's also easily accessible and a short-ish drive from Ankara. While there's no full-blown wine route here yet, Kalecik does seem to be opening up a little. First was Tafali, and now the iconic Tomurcukbağ

By 2European Wines, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Travel, Wine Reviews

  This post contains affiliate links Last June I visited Sofia for the first time. What a charming little city! Which maybe sounds slightly condescending but a) I don't mean it that way at all and b) almost anywhere is little when you live in Istanbul. I had a marvelous time exploring the Bulgarian wine scene there. For people like me who don't like to drive, the city offers quite a few opportunities to learn about and experience the wine. One of the places where I got a great crash course was Tempus Vini.  Tempus Vini Kalin Kushev's passion for wine went from hobby to business when he opened Tempus Vini in

By 3European Wines, Greek Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Except for my weird friend, Roy, I don't know anyone who doesn't at least like sparkling wine. For me, it's hands down my favorite wine category. I'm fascinated by the different processes by which it is made, how each creates a different style of wine, and offers different aromas and flavors. You could take the same grape from the same vineyard and make three very different sparkling wines with the traditional, charmat, and ancestral methods. Little surprise then, that I love exploring sparkling wine anytime I travel. For sure I like Prosecco, Champagne, and Cava

By 1Rose Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  *this post contains affiliate links A couple weeks ago, I flew to Izmir to give a wine tasting for a group from Roots Adventure Travel. It's been years since I last visited the 7Bilgeler winery, so I felt pretty psyched about going for the tasting. Over the years, 7Bilgeler has slowly added native grape wines to its portfolio, which reminded me that I'd recently opened a bottle of one of its newer wines: the 7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé. Karasakız While there are many grapes in Turkey I like, some of which I like quite a lot, my favorite Turkish black grape is undoubtedly Karasakız.  More well-known as Karasakız ("black gum"), the

By 2Amber Wine, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  How do you pair fine Turkish wine with one of the country's iconic staples, börek? That's a question I found myself asking recently.  For ages, my friend, Başak, has been telling me that she wants me to try this 'amazing' börekci in her mother's neighborhood.  Not that I dislike börek, far from it, but my börek experiences in Istanbul have always left me a little cold. She finally wore me down, but I thought, let's turn this into a wine pairing exercise. We were for sure going to be drinking wine anyway so, wine not? Börek Börek is a traditional food found throughout Turkey, the Balkans, arguably Greece with its

By 1European Wines, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Riesling is one of my absolute favorite grapes in the whole wide world. I have a three-way tie going for 'favorite grape' title and Riesling is one of the trifecta. Bone dry, lusciously sweet and every variable between, I love it. But, Riesling in Turkey? Riesling in Turkey Quite interesting, Riesling was one of the first foreign grapes to come to Turkey during the start of the modern wine industry. Back in the 1930s, Nihat A. Kutman, founder of Doluca Şarapları, made exploratory visits to France and Germany looking for grapes that might do well in his Mürefte vineyards. One of those grapes was Riesling. Very few are planting Riesling anymore.

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  When Ardıç Gürsel founded her Vinkara winery in 2003, she did it with one main goal: introduce the world to native Turkish grapes. It seems rather unbelievable that as little as 20 to 25 years ago, Turkish grapes were relatively unknown, even in Turkey! Dr. Şeyla Ergenekon's Book Türk Şarapları published in 2002, addresses only 14 native grapes. Sure, people were making wine with native grapes, I mean, obviously. But any commercial reach was limited, which makes Ardıç's goal (and all those who still share it) so very important.  Having founded her winery in Kalecik, the initial focus was on the region's very own grape: Kalecik Karası. Vinkara has

By 1European Wines, Greek Wine, Red Wine, Wine Reviews

  Have you ever wondered what kind of wine Homer drank? It seems that he was a fan of Limnio, (one of) the oldest grape variety in Greece.  This month, Susannah of Avvinare invited the #WorldWineTravel group to explore the lesser-known wine regions of the world. Greek wine has seen a major increase in popularity over the last few years, especially in America. However, mostly what people know is Santorini and Assyrtiko. Or, maybe you've heard of the Peloponnese and Agiorgitiko. But not many people have heard of or had wine from the Slopes of Meliton in Macedonia. PDO Slopes of Meliton/ΠΟΠ Πλαγιές Μελίτωνα Situated in the southern part of

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Just when you thought Heraki winery couldn’t get any better… they've dropped new wines that’ll make your taste buds dance. Alternately bold, unexpected, and impossibly smooth — these bottles are the next chapter in your wine love story. Are you ready to uncork something unforgettable? And yes, these aren't exactly "new" anymore. But we all know that my writing usually lags a bit behind my drinking! Heraki Heraki’s story could easily be told as a love letter to Turkey. Founded in 2019 by Fulya Akinci and José Hernandez-Gonzalez —whose names combine to form “Heraki”—the winery is a tribute to their