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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 59)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Öküzgözü Şarapçılık's name creates a bit of confusion. It is the only winery in Turkey named not after a family name or a vineyard but after a grape. Quite often when I see a wine with Öküzgözü written in big, bold letters across the label I can’t tell for a minute if it’s a new wine by Öküzgözü Winery or if another producer is just really excited about the grape variety. Öküzgözü Winery does produce Öküzgözü. In fact its flagship wine is a 100% Öküzgözü. However, the winery is also pioneering the return of another indigenous variety: Foça Karası. Rıfat Şekerdil, owner and winemaker of Öküzgözü Winery, has been a fixture in central

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Central Anatolia is famous for being the home of Cappadocia. Even if you’ve never been to Turkey you’ve probably seen pictures of the “fairy chimneys”, cave churches, and sunrise hot air balloons. But have you heard of the wine? Vinolus is a boutique producer in Kayseri, near Cappadocia, making unique wines from organically grown grapes. Oluş Molu, Vinolus’s charming proprietor, and her brother Aziz took over the family farm in the early aughts to create the first ecological farm in Turkey. Included in this project are the 50 acres (20 ha) planted to the native Kalecik Karası and Narince grapes as well as international varieties: Chardonnay, Roussanne, Shiraz, and Tempranillo

By 0Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Nestled in the Şarköy district of Tekirdağ (southern Thrace) is a small village called Uçmakdere. Prior to the population exchange of the 1920s this village, like many in district, was heavy populated by Greeks. It was the Greeks who established vineyards and winemaking in Turkey. With their departure villages like Uçmakdere went into decline. Without them most of the agricultural businesses, including wine, failed and villages died. Fast forward to 2012. Attracted to the history of winemaking in the region, the wine loving Bulutsuz and Gülbay families purchased a previously closed winery in Uçmakdere and modernize and revamp the facilities. Revitalizing Uçmakdere Firuze Winery does not boast any of its own vineyards. Consequently, they source grapes from local

By 0European Wines, Rest of the World, Sparkling Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Verona is one of my favorite cities. Medieval charm highlighted by Roman ruins all within reach of the Soave vineyards. When it comes to Soave, it does not get much more charming than Coffele. The Coffele family is dedicated to the protection and conservation of the land.  It’s not then a surprise then that Coffele was the first certified organic estate in the Soave DOC. The estate consists of 25 hectares largely dedicated to Garganega (gar-GAH-neh-gah). The vineyards sit at a height of 400 meters. The upper-most contain volcanic (basaltic) soils giving wines body and complexity. The southern soils are more calcareous providing wines with higher acidity, finesse and longevity. The concept of

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

  I am so pleased to say that I’ve had my first article on Culinary Backstreets published today! Culinary Backstreets does so much to bring attention to the stories of unsung food and drinks heroes who often get overlooked in favor of the fancy, trendy, and chain restaurants. They tell the stories of small family restaurants and hidden away gems known only to locals. By doing this, they highlight what many of us forget when we eat and drink out-the human element behind the magic. In my article, Grape Expectations: Finding Affordable (and Drinkable) Turkish Wine in Istanbul(click to follow the link!) I talk about some of the wine bars and restaurants

By 0Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  MMG Winery, owned and operated by the Güner Atalay family began as a simple hobby. However, after friends and neighbors expressed how much they liked the wine, the family threw everything into creating a full-blown, professional winery. The MMG Winery and accompanying restaurant, ŞatoInn clings to the side of a mountain overlooking the rest of the Urla Wine Route. I would highly recommend getting a car with more cylinders than the little Nissan Micro Istanbites and I rented. Our car did not want to make it up the steep, winding road! I probably was also not giving it enough gas since I was convinced that any burst of power would shoot

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

  Konstantinos Lazarakis MW describes Palivou Estate (Ktima Palivos) as “One of the more low-key Nemea producers, but one always striving to improve his existing wines or to create notable new ones…” My experience so far with Palivou Estate wines has been positive and this Ammos Terra Leone, one of the estate’s reserve wines, is no exception. Established by Giorgos Palivos in 1995, Palivou Estate includes 30 hectares of organically farmed vineyards. Vineyards include plantings of Rodites, Malagousia, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah but the main star here is Agiorgitiko. The winery sits in the heart of the Nemea PDO, home to one of Greece’s most commercially important grapes, Agiorgitiko. The grape name may

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Seyit Karagözoğlu’s path to becoming a winemaker began in the early 90s when he started importing wine and beer to Turkey. While his career as an importer has made him a successful man, his interest has always lain with wine. He figured since Turkey was the 5th largest grape producer; more wine should be made here and he should be doing it. Thus Paşaeli was born. In 2002 Karagözoğlu planted his first vineyards in Kaynaklar, 20 kilometers away from Izmir. Since then he has acquired or planted vineyards in four other locations and cultivates nearly a dozen grape varieties. Of those grapes about half are not only native Turkish varieties but extremely rare

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

  Cenap And founded Kavaklidere in 1929 in the Turkish capitol Ankara. What started as a winelover’s dream to promote Turkish grape varietals has grown to become one of Turkey’s largest wine producers and exporters. Kavaklidere vineyards  encompass more than 650 hectares in seven locations: Aykurt, Côtes d’Avanos, Pendore, Kirşehir, Elazığ, Güney, and Kalecik and with a production capacity of nearly 20 million liters annually, it is not surprising that the company requires multiple production facilities. The main winery is still located in Ankara with smaller facilities in the north Aegean (Pendore) and Cappadocia (Côtes d’Avanos). Nearly 90 years after Cenap And began his journey to promote indigenous Anatolian grape varieties the winery continues

By 0American Wines, Rest of the World, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I don’t often have the chance to drink American wine. While I’ve bought probably every California Zinfandel in Istanbul’s duty free shop (there are like three) that’s about the extent of what I get here in Turkey. So when I’m in the US I like to try as many as possible; like this Cardwell Hill Cellars Pinot Gris. Cardwell Hill Cellars Cardwell Hill Cellars in Oregon’s Willamette Valley was founded in 2000 by Dan and Nancy Chapel. They believe that good wine comes from good fruit and make every effort in their vineyards to ensure they get good fruit. To that end they practice a number of organic and biodynamic farming practices including dry