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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 46)

  I recently gave an online taste along about the grape Bornova Misketi. While the trend has turned to making dry wines with this grape, there are still a few quality sweet wines around. One of which, the Sevilen Late Harvest, I included in the tasting. It feels like ages since I wrote a sweet wine review so, while I only just drank this, this post is overdue. Sevilen, one of Turkey's largest wineries, makes some of the country's most recognizable labels with 20 different labels across five quality categories. The Late Harvest wine belongs to the winery's Ultra Premium series.  Sevilen Late Harvest 2013 Tasting Notes Made with, as the name

  I don't usually celebrate Rosé Day, pink wine not being a favorite of mine. However, this year the intermittent bright spring weather in Istanbul has gifted me with a fresh outlook on pink. So, I decided to dive into Rosé Day with a celebration of  four wines from three of the wine countries I know the best: Turkey, Austria, and Greece. Rosé Day in Turkey Rosé, or blush wine has gained popularity in Turkey over the last few years. Most wineries have added at least one to their roster (although a few have done it reluctantly). Some wineries make a distinction between the two terms. Particularly if they make more

  I recently read an article in Forbes by the great wine writer Dame Wine about British sparkling wine producer, Nyetimber. While I had the absolute privilege of visiting a couple British sparkling wine producers a few years ago, neither was Nyetimber. However, through some connections, I have been able to at least get my hands on a couple bottles of their wine here in Istanbul. In her article, Dame Wine gives tasting notes for several of Nyetimber's vintage sparkling wines. I don't have those kind of connections! But I have been able to drink the Classic Cuvee on more than one occasion and also got to try the Blanc de

  So. Canadian wine, eh? Although in this case I suppose I should say "oui" as today's post is about Quebecois wine. My family is from Quebec. Originally. Like three or four generations ago. We're Lemieux and Dion so, yeah. Despite any possible family remaining in Canada, I did not receive this Coteau Rougemont Vidal Reserve from them. Rather, Istanbites, who actually is Quebecois, brought it back from a visit to Montreal. Founded in 2007 by the Robert family, Coteau Rougemont planted its first vines in Quebec's sandy soils in 2008. From those early Frontenac vines, the vineyards have expanded to include Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Vidal, Pinot Noir, Frontenac Gris, Frontenac

  The Boğazkere grape comes from Diyarbakır in Turkey's farthest east vineyards. Commercial wineries do not exist in Diyarbakır. Wineries around the country either own or contract with growers there and have the grapes shipped in. However, like many other grapes, Boğazkere has migrated to different parts of the country.  One place the grape has found a new home is in the vineyards of Urla Şarapçılık. Located in the same-named sub region along the Aegean and south of Izmir; So what does a Boğazkere from the Aegean region taste like? Let's find out! Urla Şarapçılık Boğazkere 2013 Tasting Notes To start, Boğazkere can often be a tricky grape to make into a varietal

  Assyrtiko. The most iconic of Greek grapes immediately brings to mind images of Santorini, the distinctive vines, and the smell of the sea. Assyrtiko is most at home in the volcanic soils of Santorini; where the vines are trained into baskets low to the ground to protect the fruit from the island's harsh wines. However, it is also grown as far north as Drama in Macedonia. It's a versatile grape used in Vin Santo sweet wines as well as dry varietal wines. As a dry wine, Assyrtiko displays a yellow-gold color with mineral, pear, apple, and citrus blossom aromas and flavors. Assyrtiko can also be found blended; often

  From one of the most recognizable names in Turkish wine comes the Turasan Seneler Cabernet Merlot Syrah blend. The Turasan Seneler line includes many of the winery's top wines, all of which, red and white, have seem some time in oak. In fact it's right there in the name! "Seneler" means "years" in Turkish and these are Turasan's aged wines. For this wine, Turasan sourced its grapes from several vineyards around Turkey. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot came from the winery's vineyards in Central Anatolia. The Syrah came from Aegean vineyards in Denizli (670 kilometers away). Prior to blending, the wines aged an average of 12 months in French

  Spring has finally spring in Istanbul. We don't have a lot of green in this city so every tender spring bud is a precious miracle. I've lived in cities before and vastly prefer them to swaths of farmland where I grew up. But I do like a happy medium between the concrete and crop jungles. Regardless of where I'm living, one thing that does not change is how happy budding plants make me. Maybe its the rosemary, basil, and mint I just planted on my balcony, one tree on my street or the honeysuckle that seems to be growing out of the building behind mine. I find it all

  I know what you're thinking. "Wait, did you say Maui?!" Indeed I did. Kula is a white wine from Maui Wine, a winery located in Hawaiian. Yes, they make wine in Hawaii. Every single one of the 50 States makes wine. My friend E who lives in Athens is more or less from Hawaii. That's what her driver's license says anyway. Athens to the 'big island' is not an easy or cheap trip for one person, let alone two people and a baby (two of whom need US visas). But she does go home sometimes. Prior to her last trip I begged, a lot, for her to please please

  Last October Istanbites and I finally made it to Avşa island to visit Alp Törüner and his winery Büyülübağ. A lovely island in the Sea of Marmara, Avşa's population skyrockets in the summer. So we thought we would be really clever by waiting to visit until autumn. But September then October came and went until we were scrambling to book a fare on one of the last boats to the island before winter. Scramble we did though and, while it took forever to find one still open, we had a hotel booking, boat tickets, and were ready to go.   Adventures on Avşa Despite being so far into fall we really were