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Aegean Tag

HomePosts tagged "Aegean" (Page 7)

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

  Foça Karası, a nearly extinct grape from Izmir’s Foça district, is currently championed by only a few wineries, namely Öküzgözü Şarapçılık. Foça Karası (foe-cha ka-ra-sih) berries are small to medium in size and slightly elongated with thick skin. They grow in kind of loose, single-lobed, medium-sized bunches. It’s a mid-ripening grape that makes aromatic wines full of sour cherry, strawberry, prune, clove, black pepper, dill, black currant leaf, and licorice. While in Turkey this grape follows the "black of" naming pattern, this grape also goes by another name: Fokiano. While we know it as Foça Karası in Turkey, in Greece Fokiano (Φωκιανό) grows mainly on the Aegean islands (and a

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

  While 2020 was straight-up awful, 2021 had a few more ups. Certainly there were downs! But the slowly slowly back to normal life certainly made the downs more bearable. Oh and my book finally came out! So that was a huge highlight for me! Of course I drank a ton of wine in 2021! I haven't actually posted reviews of all of them yet (I drink faster than I write); so just a quick look at some of my favorite wines from 2021. The Whites I won't lie, I vastly prefer white wine to red wine. Sadly for me, Turkey seems to think that it's a red wine country so there

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Last year, 7Bilgeler Khilon Fumé Blanc joined the ranks of oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc in Turkey. Sauvignon Blanc enjoys huge popularity in Turkey. It grows across Thrace, the Marmara, and all over the Aegean. Flavor profiles range from rich with ripe stone fruit to lean and racy. Oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc took a little longer to take off than the grape itself. Early versions showed a heavy hand with oak and were clumsy and just not very good. But things have vastly improved and now I'm no longer afraid when I see "fumé" on a label. I previously reviewed 7Bilgeler's Khilon (the not fumé version) and now it's time to talk oak. 7Bilgeler Khilon

By 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

  Some grapes are natural blending partners. Cabernet Sauvingon and Merlot. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Boğazkere and Öküzgözü. But what about Sauvignon Blanc and Narince?  Narince is one of Turkey's most popular white grapes. Sauvingon Blanc is just one of the most popular grapes here period. But they're not often seen together. Arcadia makes a blend of these, but in tiny quantities and it's next to impossible to find. Now, however, Ayda Bağları is getting into the game with a blend of its own! Narince's weight balances so well with the high acidity from Sauvignon Blanc. Both grapes share a citrus element in their flavor profile and compliment each other with

By 0Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  I realized some time ago that I'd not reviewed the Sevilen Plato Öküzgözü, nor in fact any of Sevilen's Plato wines. Now, with Sevilen debuting a new Plato Narince (cannot wait to get a bottle!) I thought it's about time I got around to doing it. In the spring I opened two different wines from this series, the Kalecik Karası and Öküzgözü. Going to tackle the Öküzgözü here since I seem to be on an Öküzgözü roll lately!  While Öküzgözü originates in Elazığ in Turkey's north east, Sevilen's vineyards are located in Denizli in the inner Aegean. While much of Denizli sits at pretty high elevations, the overall climate

By 0Articles, Turkish Wine

  From Çalkarası to Fersun, these emerging grapes should be on your radar. An hour and a half drive from Antalya along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, Likya Şarapları sits in the Taurus Mountains high above Antalya’s Elmalı district. The winery has made a name for itself with wine made from popular grapes both domestic and international. But what really excites the Özkan family, owners of the winery, is Acıkara. Knowing that their region has a very old wine history, the Özkans reasoned that there must have been native grapes there before. They began to research the area and learned, through local shepherds, of a large grapevine growing wild where they grazed their

By 3Articles, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine, Turkish Wine

  While for reasons beyond my ken Karasakız is not more popular in Turkey, it is certainly one of the country's most facile grapes. Also called 'Kuntra' the Karasakız (kar-ah-sah-kiz) grape is the oldest grape variety grown on the island of Bozcaada. Records show it growing here for at least 500 years. It likes a warmer climate and, in addition to Bozcaada, also grows on the southern part of the Gallipoli Peninsula and the Sea of Marmara island, Avşa. On Bozcaada, the grape is known exclusively as Kuntra. Here, where high winds can severely damage grapes and grape leaves, vines grow in head-trained, goblet bushes to protect the grapes. Elsewhere where

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

  Turkey is no stranger to sparkling wine production. Ankara-based Vinkara wines made the first traditional method sparkling wine (with Kalecik Karası) years ago. Suvla followed with its traditional method wines, also from native grapes. Then Arcadia made one, then Kavaklidere with Chardonnay (the only not made with a native grape). Turkish sparkling wine is also made via the tank method. And we have a plethora of inexpensive bubbles made by adding carbonation.  What we did not have, was the recently fashionable pét-nat. And I say 'was' because we now do have. And not just one! No no. Four. But what IS Pét-Nat? Affectionately called, pét-nat, this style of sparkling wine is

By 1Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  One of the very first boxes I received from the Oenotrian wine club was themed to look at how Turkish wine ages. The box contained two different vintages of four wines. Because I acquire wine at a much faster rate than I drink it, I unintentionally aged several of the wines even more while they stayed buried in my wine room. Honestly, I don't even remember when I got these! Finally I got around to drinking what I think was the last pair of wines from that box: Pamukkale's Nodus Cabernet Sauvignon. If you're outside Turkey, you probably know the name Pamukkale only as the fascinating, brilliant white, limestone travertine

By 2Red Wine, Turkish Wine, Wine Reviews

  Büyülübağ winery is located on the island Avşa in the Sea of Marmara. When the Istanbul-levelling earthquake people keep predicting finally comes, Avşa is where you want to be. The island's composition is pure granite down to the sea bed with decomposed granite soils. That island's going nowhere. While Büyülübağ does have Cabernet vineyards on the island, those grapes are used in the winery's wild ferment Cab. For the reserve line, the grapes come from Çeşme in the Aegean region. Çeşme has a much warmer climate and richer, more fertile soils resulting in bigger and bolder wines.  I've been lucky enough to have a number of older vintage reserve