I frequently lament the vast amount of Bordeaux-style blends we have in Turkey. Partially because it does get rather tedious to drink the same blends over and over. Mostly though because Turkey has a plethora (1240+ at last count) of its own grapes! Of which we see maybe 40 in wine. But since I do so often complain about the sea of wanna be Bordeaux here, I thought maybe I should talk about a few of them for once. But first
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It's #Merlober! Earlier this month I participated in the #WinePW conversation about #Merlot which you can read about here. While my original intent was to have that as my sole #MerlotMe post this month, I felt so inspired by many of the pairings the group came up with so I decide to keep going with the theme! One of the wines I featured in my original post was the 2013 Merlot from Chateau Nuzun. I realized, looking back at my notes, that I've had several Merlots from Chateau Nuzun over the last year but never wrote about any of them (other than the 2013). So that's what I want
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This month the #WinePW group is taking advantage of October being #MerlotMe month. See the original invitation from Jeff at Food Wine Click! here. I have been unaccountably excited about this theme. For years I maintained a strong 'no Merlot' policy but have really come to appreciate this grape. And understand my previous prejudice for what it was: experience with bad wine. This theme also makes it easy for me to participate in the discussion with my usual raison d'être: Turkish wine. We have a lot of Merlot in Turkey due to the general popularity of the Bordeaux varieties. Like every other wine producing country, we have really good Merlot,
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Hailing from some of Turkey's most easterly vineyards in Elazığ, Öküzgözü is the number one planted wine grape in Turkey. As demonstrated in my online Öküzgözü taste along, there is no shortage to wines made with this grape. Commonly found as a varietal wine but blends are also popular. Öküzgözü traditional blending partner has been the ultra tannic Boğazkere. However, we're seeing more and more blends that include more than Boğazkere or that don't include it at all. Öküzgözü's naturally high acidity makes it a great foil for any number of grapes, both domestic and international. Diren Öküzgözü Boğazkere, 2017 Diren, the only Black Sea region winery in Turkey, sources its Öküzgözü
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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
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I stumbled across Kayra's Versus Viognier some years ago in a charming Greek fish restaurant here in Istanbul. Despite the recent surge of Viognier's popularity in Turkey, Kayra's remains my favorite. Kayra uses Viognier not only in a varietal wine but also in several blends. The Rhone-like Versus Syrah Viognier is one of my very favorite red wines in Turkey. The Versus line has a third Viognier wine; this one a Chardonnay-driven blend. I've seen this one around quite a lot but have avoided it for years now. Literally for years. To my own detriment it seems! Kayra Versus Chardonnay Viognier 2013 Tasting Notes The wine was an intense lemon color
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I generally try to bring attention to wineries in Turkey that champion native grapes. However, some of the wineries here that focus on international varieties are too good to ignore. One of my favorites is Chateau Nuzun. Not only does the winery turn out well-crafted and delicious wines; it does so with sustainable practices and utter charm. [caption id="attachment_11576" align="alignright" width="501"] Chateau Nuzun vineyards-protecting Öküzgözü grapes from bees[/caption] Owner Nazan Uzun lends not only her name to the winery (N. + Uzun = Nuzun) but also her humor and strength of character. I love meeting with Nazan. She always has a huge smile and her energy and presence make her
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I've been holding onto my notes of these two Saranta Chateau Murou Chardonnay wines for a while now. My hope was that I could compare more than two vintages but I haven't seen any Chardonnay from Saranta past 2016! Which really just bums me out because these are beautiful wines. So the 2015 and 2016 it is. We know I don't like oak in my white wine and Chardonnay always worries me. Turkey got caught in the same too much new oak trap that many New World winemakers got caught in. Many of them have clawed their out in the last few years though. Saranta has a very talented
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The Turkish wine industry remains largely isolated. I still spend a lot of time saying "Yes, Turkey makes wine. Turkey has been making wine since the Hittites ruled Anatolia." This isolation is not of the industry's making or desire but has been imposed on it. Bans against advertising mean most wineries don't have websites. Wine tourism remains very much on the down low. Winemakers have difficulty exporting. The tax burden on alcohol (to both producer and consumer) increases every year. And the climate the current government has created does no favors for the industry. And yet; Turkish wineries and winemakers are paying attention. Trends may arrive here a
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Certainly we live in strange times now. I was one of those naive people who thought, or at least hoped, we'd achieve normalcy by summer. That's definitely not happening; especially not here in Turkey. Turkey never did a proper quarantine. We had half-assed weekend lock downs for a few weeks before grumbling about the failing economy had even those lifted. Masks are now mandatory at all times. Less than half of people wear them properly or at all. Whatever social distancing people obeyed in the beginning is merely a memory. Weekend boats to the Princes Islands are as beyond capacity packed as ever. We have between 7,000 and
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