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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 80)

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Over the summer I reviewed Sevilen’s W, a Sauvignon Blanc, which E, M, and I all really enjoyed so when I saw the Sevilen R at Carrefour I thought we had to try it. Sadly I did not like it nearly as much as I did the W. Sevilen R is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot and I wonder if part of why I didn’t like this one could be attributed to that blend. I love Petit Verdot but I do not love Merlot (which we know) and it’s a rare that I find a Cabernet Franc that I like. My tastes aside though neither E

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I have been burned by Turkish Malbec’s before so I was a little (i.e. a whole lot) trepidacious when the guys as La Cave recommended the Likya Kadyanda Malbec. Likya produces two Malbecs, a pricey reserve and the reasonably priced 2014. Since it was only going to set me back 45TL I decided to be brave and give it a try. My first thought when I got a whiff of the nose… “ooooo”.  Even though this isn’t Likya’s reserve Malbec it has a lot of reserve-style scents like black fruits, tobacco, and oak; aromas I would expect more from a reserve-style Malbec. It was softer on the palate than I

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I seem to unwittingly be on a mission now to try all the Cabernet Sauvignon wines in Turkey. As far as missions go I don’t suppose this one is so bad. Certainly it hasn’t been a hardship! This week it’s the 2013 special reserve Çamlıbağ Cabernet Sauvignon from the warm climate of Bozcaada (near Çanakkale). In the glass the Çamlıbağ Cabernet Sauvignon was ruby red with no hints of purple. With a nose and flavor profile that includes blackberry, berry jam, tobacco, baking spice, and what I think were violets it’s pretty stereotypical of a warm climate Cabernet Sauvignon. Lowish tannins and low alcohol don’t make for a big Cabernet

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  The new Chamlija Sui Generis is a study in how important it is to let your wines breathe. I started out completely turned off by this one only to do a complete reversal the next day. But before we get to my Saint Paul*-like conversion…the pertinents. A little more expensive than the average bottle of Chamlija, a bottle of Sui Generis will set you back 105 TL, unless you get it from Solera like I did where you get a 25% discount when you buy a bottle to go. Before 10PM of course when Turkey’s no alcohol sale law kicks in. The Chamlija Sui Generis is a blend of

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