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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 56)

By 0Red Wine, Rest of the World, South American Wines, Wine Reviews

  Having friends who travel frequently is a great boon to my wine collection. In particular, one friend of mine seems to travel constantly. Thankfully, she’s very generous and usually picks up a bottle or two of wine for me if she’s been to a wine country. To my delight, she’s visited Argentina several times. One of those trips netted me a bottle of Animal Malbec. For all that Argentina rightfully claims responsibility for Malbec’s rise to international attention and glory, even this lauded wine country produces some wines that are table quality at best. Since my friend usually chooses wine in Duty Free as she’s running for a flight

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  O! learn to read what silent love hath writ: To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit. Wine as Poetry In 2003 Can and Serpil Şener and Eda Aylın Genç abandoned city life and careers in favor of wine. They chose the Urla district of Izmir for their project. With its long history of wine production and favorable climate, they knew they would find favorable conditions here for their vines. Set in the village of Kuşçular, USCA’s vineyards feel both the west and north winds of the Aegean’s surrounding gulfs. Part of a growing trend in Turkey, USCA farms all its grapes organically in an effort to begin as they mean

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

After six years of living in this country, my Turkish language is still pretty crap. Partially because my day job is conducted 98% in English and because my Turkish friends all speak English far better than I speak Turkish. Really though, it’s just a terribly difficult language and my mind seems to reject all its weird grammar structures. I’ve studied Turkish over three different periods at three different language schools. Each time I restart, I get bumped down to a beginner level course and have to work my way back up to the advanced classes Wine, Like Language Many think learning a language with a different alphabet is scary and

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  All of the teachers participate somehow and many of them wear traditional Austrian costumes of Lederhosen and Dirndl. As a rather typical American, my family is from a little bit of everywhere and I’ve always been envious of people who have a cultural heritage that comes with national costumes, traditions, food, etc. Our biggest tradition in Michigan is using our right hand as a state map. Which, come on, is pretty cool. Istranca Terroir In a way, wine is like my Austrian friends and their dirndl; they come from and belong to a place. However, with wine we define that with the somewhat indefinable term, terroir.  Kırklareli-based winery Chamlija takes a huge amount of pride in its terroir. When we

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

Fumé Blanc and I are not friends. We do not get along well at all. I without exception prefer my Sauvignon Blanc fresh, clean, and oak free. However, I wanted to try Yazgan’s Vodina Fumé Blanc when I came across it. In the spirit of “don’t judge a book by its cover” I want to try everything. Just because I have not liked Fumé Blanc from…well literally anyone, doesn’t mean that I won’t like it in a wine I have yet to try. I mean, heck, I’ve come around to Merlot! So why not Fumé Blanc? The 2013 Vodina Fumé Blanc showed a pretty dark straw color that unfolded aromas of citrus oil, flowers,

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

It feels like forever since my last post! While I try to post every Wednesday and Sunday, I missed the previous two weeks due to travel. My day job occasionally pulls me back to DC so I can reconnect with the mother ship. Since I’d already crossed an ocean to get there I decided to go even farther west to Las Vegas. Not to visit any casinos though! Rather, to meet my bff’s new baby. Even though my trip did include some wine in both DC and Vegas (and a split of Champagne at the Denver airport I drank with Egg McMuffins-true story); I am happy to be

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Turkish Malbec? What? That can’t be right, you’re thinking. It pleases me to say that it is correct! Turkey makes Malbec. In fact, Malbec is cultivated in at least three of the eight wine regions. Only a handful of producers are making varietal Malbec but it appears pleasingly frequently in a number of blends. So how does Turkish Malbec stack up against Malbec giant Argentina or even hometown Cahors? Before we can dive into the wines themselves, let’s look at the regions where it grows; beginning with the most westerly region-Thrace. Thrace The Thrace (or Trakya in Turkish) growing region extends from Turkey’s borders with Bulgaria and Greece down to the

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Chardonnay is a tricky beast. Or at least I find it to be so. I have been burned by so many cheap and overly and clumsily oaked wines; I now look at Chardonnay with a wary eye. I dislike oak on my Chardonnay in general and have found few exceptions to that. However, if any winery in Turkey has changed my mind, it was Turkish wine giant Sevilen. Appellations are so useful for wine consumers. Not only do they carry a guarantee of quality, they also give a good idea about what you’re going to find in the bottle. Turkey has no appellations. Quality guarantees are based on the trust you

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  One does not immediately associate wine with piracy. Yet, Barbare, one of Turkey’s Thracian wineries, takes its name and inspiration from the famed (or perhaps infamous!) pirate, Barbarossa. Before visiting Barbare, I had no idea that the pirate Barbarossa (aka Redbeard) was Turkish. Let alone that he was an admiral in the Ottoman navy. His journey from renegade pirate to respected admiral meandered nearly as much as Turkey’s recent wine history. Readbeard, King of the Sea Barbarossa – image from Wikipedia In the same year Columbus left to “discover” America, the Barbarossa brothers Khidr and Oruç, Were already villainous pirates. After Spain kicked the last of the Muslims out of Iberia, it, along with Portugal,

By 0European Wines, Red Wine, Rest of the World, Wine Reviews

  While Turkish wine may be my raison d’être, that certainly doesn’t preclude enjoying wine from other countries. Greece in particular has captured me over the last couple years so I was thrilled to learn about the Oenorama event held every spring in Athens. So, with my cat being looked after by neighbor’s son I was able to take a quick flight to Greece for a lovely long weekend. Oenorama started in 1994. While there are many wine festivals in Greece that focus on specific regions (for example the Peleponnese Wine Festival that occurred in February), Oenorama brings together wineries from all over Greece. This year over 200 wineries and related businesses took