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Kayra Tag

HomePosts tagged "Kayra"

  The first Experimental Series wine Kayra released was an old vine Semillon. A couple years have passed since that one, which made me wonder if there even was going to be another in the series. I don't know if the winery was waiting for inspiration to strike or waiting for perfection, but it hit it big with the new Karkuş. [caption id="attachment_16265" align="alignright" width="225"] 60+ year old Karkuş vine[/caption] Karkuş (also known as Kerküş) has lived in shadows for some time. A grape traditionally used by Turkey's small Assyrian population, Karkuş grows in the high heat, semi-arid southeast near the country's borders with Syria and Iraq. New plantings of this

  Every year - well every year that I remember - I like to do a quick review of the wines I posted about during the year that I most enjoyed, that most surprised me, etc. So with no further ado, let's jump into my favorite Turkish wines of 2022! My Favorite Sparkling Wines Sparkling wines are always going to be at the tippy top of my list! Not many new sparkling wines were released this year but, even if it were the only one, the Arcadia Pét-Nat Sauvignon Gris would still sit at the top of the tippy top.  Yaşasın is not new but it still makes my list. This year, I

  Kayra Buzbağ and Kayra Buzbağ Rezerv have been around since forever. By which I mean at least the 10 years I've been knocking around Istanbul and many years prior to that. Kayra's facility in Elazığ has been there for so long that they city grew up around it. Kayra has two wineries, but the Elazığ location is dedicated to the production of its wines made from regional grapes Öküzgözü and Boğazkere. Which are the grapes that have always gone into the Buzbağ blends. Which means also that Buzbağ Rezerv has also always been a red wine. There's not been a Rezerv white until now.  Hello Kayra Buzbağ Rezerv White

  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

  Earlier sunsets, cooler temperatures, and slate grey, rain-threatening skies are heralding the waning of summer in Istanbul. While I completely plan to continue drinking rosé wines throughout the autumn (and likely winter!) now seems like a good time to go through my spring and summer Turkish rosé notes and post about those I haven't written up yet. Kayraklı Şarapçılık Asarcık Rosé, 2019 A new-ish winery, based in the Muğla district of the Aegean, Kayraklı Şarapçılık has just a few vintages under its belt. Although the lack of an established name/quality and limited distribution doesn't stop it from charging outrageous prices for its wine. This rosé, an Öküzgözü - Merlot blend, retails at

  Shortly before Christmas I saw that my local shop, La Cave, would soon be stocking a new wine from Kayra. Kayra might be one of the giant wineries here in Turkey but their wine, especially the mid range and top shelf, is solid. Then I saw it was a Semillon and I immediately contacted La Cave to ask him to put aside two bottles for me.  While Semillon may not have as long a history in Turkey as say, Merlot in northern Italy, it has grown here for close to 100 years now. Considered by many to be a traditional, if not native, variety, Semillon gained popularity here early

  It was recently pointed out to me that I never posted a list of my favorite wines from 2020. In fact, I have not posted a list like that since 2017! How embarrassing. However, I feel happy that someone reads this often enough to have noticed the oversight! We can all agree that very few of us enjoyed 2020. At least I had wine to cushion the blow! Below is a list of my favorite Turkish wines that I tried this year (in no particular order). Unfortunately my typing is a lot slower than my drinking so I haven’t posted reviews of all of them but for those I

  In January, Esat bey, owner of La Cave in Cihangir, asked if I'd recently had the Kayra Vintage Boğazkere. It was his highest selling wine that month. Far (apparently) outstripping any other wine sales.  He gave me a bottle with the instructions to go home that evening, open it, and let him know what I thought. He would do the same.  I do not know who started the run on this wine but I hope that person creates more buying trends! It's been a while since I've had any Kayra and I forget sometimes how good their wine is. Particularly those in the Vintage and Versus lines. If you're

  In December I looked at several Turkish Cabernet Franc wines as part of #CabFrancDay (December 4), that month's #WinePW food and wine pairing event, and my Advent wine calendar.  However, those are not the only Cabernet Franc wines Turkey has to offer! The below wines in now way cover all the Cabernet Franc here. They just happen to be the ones I've enjoyed in the last year (give or take). Gürbüz Cabernet Franc, 2018 Late 2019 marked Akın Gürbüz's first Cabernet Franc. Grapes sourced from Solera's Gazıköy vineyards, fermented in open vats then aged for 13 months in new oak. The result: one of the most stunning Cabernet Francs in

  This month the #winophiles are exploring the Côtes du Rhône. You can view the preview here. Originally I was going to pass on this one. The imported cost of quality Côtes du Rhône wines generally being out of my price range. However, by invitation of this month's host Camilla etc etc, I'm taking a slightly different approach to the topic. While the others look at the Côtes du Rhône in France; I'm looking at its influence on Turkish wine. When the modern Turkish wine industry kicked off in the 1930's and 40's it looked to Europe for inspiration, know-how, and grapes. As a result we have a lot of