Thrace Tag

  A few months ago I held a big Chamlija tasting for a group of friends on E&M’s terrace. After our visit to Chamlija we made a huge order of wines and I basically ordered one of everything. One that I was particularly looking forward to trying was the Chamlija Köpek Gülderen. Dog killer?! Why was I so excited to try this particular Pinot Noir? There’s a Turkish phrase: “köpek öldüren” which means ‘dog killer’. This expression describes the worst of the worst wines. As in, it’s so bad it could kill a dog. Chamlija has cleverly capitalized on this very common phrase with a very clever play on words. Their wine, ‘Köpek Gülderen’

  The 2013 Chamlija Thracian … where has this been all my life? This, for me, is hands down one of the top wines being produced in Turkey right now and is one of my two absolute favorites here. I’m so overwhelmed by this one that I’m a little at loss for even where to start with this. Over the summer I visited Chamlija’s tasting restaurant where we had the privilege to do a tasting with founder and owner Mustafa Çamlıca. While we didn’t taste this there, we did discover that Chamlija makes many more wines than I’ve ever found in Istanbul. The best news? They ship! Which is particularly relevant to this

  My first encounter with the Chamlija Felix Culpa happened in the same way I discovered many of Chamlija’s wines…there was one bottle, just the one, sitting on the shelf at La Cave. Anytime that happens with a wine maker I really like I get the bottle and I was so glad I did that with the Felix Cupla. A happy mistake Which was another thing that attracted me to this one. Felix Culpa / Mutlu Hata (happy mistake)…why that name? The grape is a Pinot Noir but this isn’t Chaamlija’s Pinot Noir wine. Chamlija has two Felix Culpa wines-one this Pinot Noir and the other a Chardonnay and while I

  While Sherlock seemed utterly unmoved by this wine; I was not. I’m not usually a huge fan of Cabernet Franc but when Mustafa Çamlica, the owner of the Chamlija winery, suggested I try the 2014 Chamlija Cabernet Franc I wasn’t going to argue. I am so glad I took his advice. This slightly opaque, bright, garnet red Chamlija Cabernet Franc (found at La Cave for 95 TL) has a nose redolent of dried strawberries, mint, green peppercorn, jalepeno, and green bell pepper. The palate is smooth tannins, mouth-watering acid, and a long finish with lots of spicy and pepper flavors backed up with raspberry and blackberry fruits. My notes have ‘so nice’