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Wine Reviews

HomeWine Reviews (Page 84)

By 0Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I have a hard time with Sauvignon Blancs. I feel like no two are alike which, on the one hand is fantastic because hurrah for new wines, new tastes, and new experiences! On the other, you run into more chances of wines you don’t like. I’ve learned over the years that I just really don’t like white wine all that much. Dry white wines that is. Or anything oaked. Don’t even try to give me Chardonnay (unless it’s steel aged!). So that makes choosing a Sav Blanc which varies from the “less ripe” pale color herby/green bell pepper flavors to “more ripe” darker yellows with summer fruit flavors.

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Procured at Comedus for a reasonable 43 TL, this 2011 Chateau Nuzu is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Öküzgözü. We actually drank some time ago, when the January weather was nicer than our current April weather. Le sigh. Aside from the ruby red color, the tartness on the Chateau Nuzu palate was the first thing we all noticed. It was really acidic giving the wine a sour flavor. With the sour yeastiness dominating, I had a hard time tasting anything else but believe I did detect some plum and cherry flavors hiding in there. Rather extreme tartness wasn’t the Chataeu Nuzu 2011’s only surprise we discovered. Sediment-lots of it

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Tuesday morning I was sitting in the local tax office when the power wet out. I hoped it was just a flicker but we soon learned that it was all of our neighborhood. Then we heard that it was all of Istanbul…then 50 cities across Turkey. Dude. What could we do but drink wine? Earlier I’d stopped in Solera, the wine house just up the street from my apartment, where they offer 25% discount on bottles that you buy for take away, and picked up a couple new reds, including the Gordias Kalecik Karası. Country-wide power outage, candle light, and Turkish homework seemed a great excuse to break out one. I

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  As I’ve had uneven luck with them in the past I don’t tend to buy a lot of wines from Duluca. Nor did I buy this one. It’s interesting having partners in wine tasting shenanigans as E&M often buy wines that I wouldn’t. Sometimes for very good reasons but they’re still new to the Turkish wine scene so we forgive them. I was intrigued by the Villa Duluca Klasik when I saw that, accompanying the Öküzgözü-Shiraz blend was Alicante. Alicante, being a region in (central I think) Spain known for producing Monastrell wines, is not a name I see here often and I eagerly opened the bottle to see how

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Despite my previous, failed attempt to enjoy a Turkish-produced, Spanish-style wine I decided I would try again with the 2012 Mon Reve Tempranillo. Despite costing far more than anyone should pay for a young Tempranillo (46TL at Carrefour) it was pretty decent. In the glass it was a lovely burgundy with purple hints. On the nose-red fruits, cherry, plum,and  tobacco; all of which also presented on the palate. Low tannins, low acid, not really much of a finish at all…if you’ve enjoyed Tempranillo before then imagine your standard Tempranillo, water it down a little, and viola. In the end, it tasted pretty similar to your $5 Spanish Tempranillo. And while

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  It’s funny how I never notice that I rarely cook meat at home; until Lent comes and then every Friday it’s an absolute trial. Much like living in Turkey with limited access to pork. I’d cook up some bacon every once in a while in the States but it was pretty rare for me to make pork dishes; but now that it’s difficult to get it’s all I can think of. I’m using my meatless Fridays to experiment with new vegetarian dishes-and pairing wines with them, of course! I wanted to let the Suvla Syrah breathe a bit (I recommend one-ish hour) so I opened it while the onions

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Usually I write these posts later in the afternoon but my regularly scheduled activities are frustrated by the need to wait around for DHL to turn up with a package. Usually they arrive shortly after calling to see if I’m home but it’s been an hour already. At least the package I’m waiting for is really cute shoes. I heard about Chateau Nuzun recently and while La Cave in Cihangir carries four of this nearby winery’s wines, they range in price from 90 to 140 TL. And I haven’t been a good enough girl to merit that of late. So I was happy to discover that my new favorite

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  A few weeks ago I finally made it to Comedus, a great little charcuterie deli nearish my place. In addition to going a little nuts buying a variety of cheeses and meats, I also picked up several bottles of really quite reasonably priced wine, including the 2012 Vino Dessera Öküzgözü. Comedus had a couple wines by Vino Dessera, the Öküzgözü I picked up (32TL) and a Cabernet Sauvingnon. Since I liked the Öküzgözü so well (spoiler), I’ll probably go back for the Cabernet and if even the nose is at all similar (beautiful, floral with red fruits) I think I’ll like that too. Initially on the palate the Vino Dessera Öküzgözü

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I feel like I don’t often see a Cabernet Franc here so when I found an Anfora Cabernet Franc (new from Anfora) at Le Cave I grabbed it. Especially since the nice guy who helps me choose wine there pointed out that it was far more “ekonomik” at 28TL than the 140TL bottle I was also buying. In the glass, the deep ruby color gave way to an intriguing nose of (sour) cherry and smoke. I almost thought I was going to once more start waxing poetic; but no. It was a good wine, and at 28TL something I might buy again, but not good enough for the poetic

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Two of my best friends have just moved to Istanbul and I haven’t had time to take them through the do’s and don’ts of Turkish wine yet; so I wasn’t really shocked when I turned up for dinner and found them with a bottle of Sava Premium. “Premium”. Snort. I love them but they are very much ‘wine tastes like wine’ people; at least they sprang for the premium. I’m always game to try a new wine though so here we go. Perhaps I was predisposed to give it bad notes but for me the Sava Premium was awful right from the start with a vinegary nose; or maybe