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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 79)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  In a feeble attempt to make moving apartments easier I stopped buying wine a while ago so when I moved into my new place my stock was fairly low. My co-worker R and I stopped at Solera on the way to my new place to start my stocking up process and as a house warming gift she bought me this bottle of 2012 Arda Kuşlar Cabernet Sauvignon. She’d had it before at Solera and loved it. Arda is a family run Trakya-based winery producing boutique wines and I am adding them to my ‘one of these days I actually will visit Edirne and tour wineries’ winery list. I’ve had

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Finally the guys at La Cave gave me a good recommendation! I’ve been burned by them a few times but I decided to try the Ma’adra Cabernet Sauvignon because it’s a new brand on the market from the Aegean and because generally I like Cabernet Sauvignon. Before we even opened the bottle E was admonishing me for the bad influence I’ve had over M. In the past the two of them were of the ‘wine is wine’ school and when they came to Turkey wouldn’t spend more than 20-25 TL per bottle. Now he’s taking the tasting process seriously and coming home with bottles that cost 40 TL and up.

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  On one of the gorgeous days we had in February E and I ventured over to the Asian side to meet another friend for lunch. As much as I love riding the ferries it usually takes something pretty extraordinary to get me over to the Asian side. Turns out that the Viktor Levi Wine House in Moda, Kadiköy is just such a place. I was lured to Viktor Levi by the promise that the restaurant makes and serves its own wine so imagine my surprise when we ordered a bottle and the foil showed that the wine had been made by Kavaklıdere! I read the ‘about us’ section on

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  How much do I love Chamlija? A whole lot in case that rhetorical question wasn’t obvious and the Chamlija Papaskarası is no exception. I’d never heard of the Papaskarası grape before seeing this bottle at La Cave (65 TL). It’s a very old grape varietal, it’s been around for some 1,500 years. The “forgotten king of Thracian grapes” produces a table-style wine similar to Pinot Noir and traces likely roots (haha see what I did there?) to Prokupac grapes which have been grown in Serbia and Macedonia since the 5th century. The nose on the Chamlija Papaskarası was very promising, cherry, plum, forest berries, I think I got a little dried

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Not even the Suvla shop in Cighangir has the Suvla Behramlı! I found it at the Macro Center in Levent for about 15TL and M got a bottle at the big Migros at Cevahir for 19TL. We must find it closer to home though because it was pretty darn marvelous. We started our evening with a pricey Vino Dessera and this inexpensive Suvla was so much better. So much better. I was pouring the Vino Dessera for everyone else to avoid drinking it and then plotting how to get more of the Suvla Behramlı for myself. So let’s talk about why it’s so good. Suvla’s 2013 Behramlı is a big blend

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

  Aside from the Georgian restaurant a colleague and I found in Budapest on our free day, the only highlight, indeed the only thing that made the eight days I was stuck in Lake Balaton, Hungary bearable was the Hungarian Festival with its myriad of food, wine, and craft stalls. Especially the wine stalls like Tihanyi. Set in the middle of a park (which we don’t see too much of in Istanbul to begin with!) the festival was very atmospheric with lights strung up in the trees and communal tables for eating and drinking the many offerings. Many of those many offerings were pork-based foods and you can bet I

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  For no particular reason I rarely buy wines by Sarafin which makes no sense as Doluca has a reputation for making good wine under this label. The 2013 Sarafin Shiraz only supports that reputation. A nice, plummy purple color, the nose was full of red and dark fruits, pepper, and leather. Aged 12 months in both French and American oak it was very aromatic; really quite nice. On the palate the Sarafin Shiraz smooth with well-integrated medium tannins and acid. It’s a pretty big, full-bodied wine with lots of cooked fruit flavors, maybe some cassis, leather, and baking spices. Is it the most remarkable Shiraz I’ve ever had? No. Was it horrible? 

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I’ve had this Vino Dessera Cabernet Franc for a while. I picked it up at Comedus maybe eight months ago, back when I still thought paying 70-something TL a bottle was outrageous. I feel like now that’s my median per bottle amount. I have an up and down relationship with Vino Dessera. I’ve had a couple amazing wines from them and a couple less wines. Unfortunately for me (and my drinking companions) this one fell into the latter category. In the glass the Vino Dessera Cabernet Franc was a not very attractive brownish red color. While it has been aged three months in oak I couldn’t detect any discernible oaky

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I’m so glad I had this review pre-written for today. I’ve been sick a lot lately and with this latest cold I can’t smell or taste much. When I am unwell I waver between doing nothing, popping pills (a hold over from growing up with a mother who diagnosed us and handed out drugs from her considerable prescription collection), or attempting more natural methods. While my brother was here in October we went to my friend M’s shop in the Spice Bazaar where we discovered crystal menthol. That’s menthol. We’re not Breaking Bad over here. Breathing in menthol fumes is a great way to clear out your sinuses and I

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  The first time I saw a Chamlija wine at Sensus there were only two or three of them. Now they are everywhere and I need to try them all!! Luckily Solera, La Cave, and Carrefour are getting into the game so I’m pretty well guaranteed to find a bottle of Chamlija where ever I go. This 2013 Chamlija Cabernet & Cabernet I picked up at Carrefour for…I don’t remember how much. 40-something TL? 60-something? Not a vast fortune in any case. It’s 45% each Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% of the dreaded Merlot; but since it’s just 10% we’ll forgive its inclusion. In the glass it’s more purple than