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Aegean Tag

HomePosts tagged "Aegean" (Page 2)

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  These wines were provided as samples - all opinions are my own. The lovely folks at Akberg recently reached out to me and sent me some samples. I love samples! Thank you Akberg! This presented me with a fantastic chance to try some of their new vintages and new wines. Not all of which are included here, a couple need their own posts! But the four I'm featuring here uncover flavors - and a new grape! - from the winery.  But first! A little about the winery.  Akberg Akberg winery already had a long history in Turkey before the 2020 vintage that put it on the map. For years, Akberg has produced

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Since I wrote an extensive post about 7Bilgeler quite recently (including travel information for anyone wanting to visit!) I won't rehash all that info here. We're just going to dive right into this (previously) obscure grape and 7Bilgeler's wine.  Gök, the Sky Grape From the Mersin district in Turkey’s Mediterranean growing region comes the grape, Gök or Göküzüm. Mersin is far more well-known for its beaches and Mediterranean coastline than it is for grapes and wine, but this resort area’s hot climate isn’t where Gök makes its home. Grown in the Taurus mountains, high elevation helps mitigate the heat of the Mediterranean region. In mountain villages like Çömelek, Gök vines

By 1Articles, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine

  This year the Jancis Robinson summer writing competition theme was "my favorite grape". Both an easy and yet incredibly difficult topic! My entry was not short-listed but I wanted to share it anyway.  My favorite grape: Çal Karası. Falling for Çal Karası What is a ‘favorite’ grape, anyway? Is it the one you prefer to drink? The one that challenges you? Or the one that you connect with emotionally? For many, each of those questions could be answered by a different grape. I believe that wine lovers drink wine for reasons beyond its pleasant taste. We’re the people who, while our friends roll their eyes, wax poetic about agriculture, argue about the

By 0Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Two Suvla pét-nats (so far - dare we hope for more?) made with Yapıncak and Emir have joined the ranks of Turkish pét-nats. They aren't new, I'm just overdue in writing about them. Now that I'm finally getting around to it, I can honestly say that I'm a little in love!  I'd heard rumors about the Suvla Kınalı Yapıncak pét-nat and then got to try it at a tasting a while ago, but hadn't gone in search of it, largely because I was afraid of what the price would be. A legit fear these days. BUT!! As of June (so it may have gone up with the July ÖTV increase)

By 1Rose Wine, Travel, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  *this post contains affiliate links A couple weeks ago, I flew to Izmir to give a wine tasting for a group from Roots Adventure Travel. It's been years since I last visited the 7Bilgeler winery, so I felt pretty psyched about going for the tasting. Over the years, 7Bilgeler has slowly added native grape wines to its portfolio, which reminded me that I'd recently opened a bottle of one of its newer wines: the 7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé. Karasakız While there are many grapes in Turkey I like, some of which I like quite a lot, my favorite Turkish black grape is undoubtedly Karasakız.  More well-known as Karasakız ("black gum"), the

By 2Amber Wine, Orange Wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  How do you pair fine Turkish wine with one of the country's iconic staples, börek? That's a question I found myself asking recently.  For ages, my friend, Başak, has been telling me that she wants me to try this 'amazing' börekci in her mother's neighborhood.  Not that I dislike börek, far from it, but my börek experiences in Istanbul have always left me a little cold. She finally wore me down, but I thought, let's turn this into a wine pairing exercise. We were for sure going to be drinking wine anyway so, wine not? Börek Börek is a traditional food found throughout Turkey, the Balkans, arguably Greece with its

By 1European Wines, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Riesling is one of my absolute favorite grapes in the whole wide world. I have a three-way tie going for 'favorite grape' title and Riesling is one of the trifecta. Bone dry, lusciously sweet and every variable between, I love it. But, Riesling in Turkey? Riesling in Turkey Quite interesting, Riesling was one of the first foreign grapes to come to Turkey during the start of the modern wine industry. Back in the 1930s, Nihat A. Kutman, founder of Doluca Şarapları, made exploratory visits to France and Germany looking for grapes that might do well in his Mürefte vineyards. One of those grapes was Riesling. Very few are planting Riesling anymore.

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own. Just when you thought Heraki winery couldn’t get any better… they've dropped new wines that’ll make your taste buds dance. Alternately bold, unexpected, and impossibly smooth — these bottles are the next chapter in your wine love story. Are you ready to uncork something unforgettable? And yes, these aren't exactly "new" anymore. But we all know that my writing usually lags a bit behind my drinking! Heraki Heraki’s story could easily be told as a love letter to Turkey. Founded in 2019 by Fulya Akinci and José Hernandez-Gonzalez —whose names combine to form “Heraki”—the winery is a tribute to their

By 0Red Wine, Rest of the World, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Turkey and Australia both being what they are, this will merely be the first of many Turkey vs Australia Shiraz taste offs! Shiraz (or Syrah, both names are used here) is massively popular in Turkey. Despite the preponderance of imitation Bordeaux blends, Shiraz is the most planted of any international grape. At least as of the last numbers I saw. Varietal Shiraz is the most common, but it also appears in blends. Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blends have gained a lot of popularity here. It sneaks into what would otherwise be a Bordeaux blend. And one producer, Kayra, is even doing a traditional Côte Rôtie-style Syrah-Viognier blend. So, there's a lot of

By 1Red Wine, Rose Wine, Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  I was lucky enough to recently be invited to a tasting of Nif Bağları wines at Foxy Nişantaşı. As my focus tends to land on the wineries that work more vigorously with native grapes, some wineries, like Nif, often fall to the fringes of my drinking and writing. I therefore especially enjoyed this opportunity of returning to Nif's wines.  It was somehow only at this tasting that I learned why the winery is called Nif. I certainly have wondered (!) and cannot believe I never thought to ask. The winery is located in Kemalpaşa, İzmir. But, as with many cities in Turkey, the area has a much older