Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi eu nulla vehicula, sagittis tortor id, fermentum nunc. Donec gravida mi a condimentum rutrum. Praesent aliquet pellentesque nisi.

Thrace Tag

HomePosts tagged "Thrace" (Page 9)

  Kırklareli-based winery Arcadia is not alone in cultivating Sauvignon Blanc. This French varietal maintains a spot as a major favorite here in Turkey. What sets it apart is the Arcadia 333. The sexiest wine in Turkey (but more on why later!). While many turn up their nose to sweet wines, I staunchly remain a fan. Turkey offers a fair number of semi and sweet wines. Most of them are made with late harvest grapes while three producers, Corvus, LA Wines, and Gemici make passito-style sweet wines. Only one, Arcadia, makes a sweet wine with botrytis grapes. Something the winery never anticipated doing and, like all those who gamble with

  Established in 2002 by wine and beer importer Seyit Karagözoğlu, Paşaeli is, in my opinion, one of Turkey’s most valuable wineries. More than just creating quality wine, Paşaeli is of the Turkish wineries making huge efforts to revive rare and dying grape varieties. While Paşaeli does turn out a couple of the Bordeaux-style blends that are endlessly popular in Turkey. I’ve had the Kaynaklar and K2 blends several times and they’re very good. But the heart and soul of this winery are the grapes you’ve never heard of. A big believer in growing things where they are native, Karagözoğlu set about collecting vineyards where Turkey’s native grapes thrive naturally. Paşaeli has vineyards in

  I used to feel rather agnostic about Cabernet Franc. Wines left me with a feeling of “meh.” Over the last few years grape has grown in popularity in Turkey. With increased popularity has also come increased quality. Now I hunt down all the variety Cabernet Franc wines I can find. So in honor of #CabFrancDay I thought I'd dig out notes on a few recent finds. Cabernet Franc can be found in vineyards across Turkey. However, it is especially prevalent in Thrace, Central Anatolia, and various areas of the Aegean. So today for #CabFranc day we're looking at a couple wines from each of these regions. Pamukkale Anfora Cabernet Franc

  One of Turkey's most widely available native grapes is Bornova Misketi. It is, however, not the only type of Muscat grape to be found in Turkey. Muscats of Hamberg and Alexandria, Muscat Giallo/Gelber Muskateller, and Golden Muscat also pop up here and there. Aside from Amadeus' Gelber Muskateller, the majority of these get used in blends. Until now. This year Vino Dessera released a 100% Muscat of Alexandria wine. And it's a winner. Vino Dessera Alexandria Muscat 2018 Tasting Notes: Star bright, pale lemon in the glass, the wine was practically and English garden in the nose. Highly perfumed aromas of roses, orange blossom, bergamont jam, melon, honeydew, and honeycomb rose

  Merlot. That grape that, for good or bad, everyone knows. I have largely avoided Merlot for years. Not because Sideways turned me off of it. More because I'd never been "on" it. The New World style made from late(r) harvested grapes resulting in high alcohol, plummy fruit, and fruitcake flavors has never been my jam.  But not even in Turkey can one avoid this grape. It might not achieve the same amount of plantings as the more popular international varieties of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon; but that is not to say it's hard to find. Quite the opposite. It is, oddly enough perhaps, Turkish Merlots that have started to

  For some years now, Doluca has been making a red blend called Signium. The blend changes from year to year but it has always been red. Until now. Last year the winery released its first white Doluca Signium. As one of Turkey's largest wineries, I often look upon Doluca a bit distrustfully. The winery is responsible for putting some of Turkey's worst wines on the market. However, it was also one of the first to recognize the need for quality wine. In the late 80s it launched its Sarafin line. Together with wineries like Umurbey slowly began to change the face of Turkish wine. Now it offers wines at every

  Last winter Istanbites and I visited Thracian winery Saranta. In addition to getting a tour of the winery, it's impressive cellars, and beautiful tasting room, of course we had a nice tasting. While I love all of Saranta's wines, particularly the Chateau Murou line, the highlight of our visit wasn't the tasting. Or at least not the official tasting. I most enjoyed the sip from the tank we had of the winery's new Chateau Murou Semillon. A new grape to Saranta, but not to Turkey. Semillon first appeared in the country over fifty years ago. Brought in by the then patriarch of the family behind the Doluca and Kutman

  Umurbey arguably makes one of the best Sauvignon Blancs in Turkey. While the winery's proprietor, Umur bey (Mr. Umur) does not want to be known as a white wine maker; the winery's Sauvignon Blanc is its most recognized wine. It is not, however, the only white wine. Many site Semillon as (one of) the first foreign grape planted in Turkey. Plantings, which remain concentrated on Turkey's European side from Kırklareli down through the Gallipoli peninsula, go back as far as the early twentieth century. Varietal Semillon wines are still elusive, the exception being Saranta's Chateau Murou Semillon. Winemakers mostly use the grape in blended white wines, like this Sauvignon

  It's been a little while since I've written about Chamlija's wines. While not writing about them, I certainly haven't stopped drinking Chamlija's wines. Or thinking about them. In my opinion, other than guaranteed quality and sometimes amazingly beautiful wines, Chamlija's two biggest contributions to the Turkish wine industry are the winery's willingness to experiment, and its championship of native Turkish grapes; especially Papaskarası. Moreover, when these two attributes combine, the genius that results.  At once both clinical and adventurous, Chamlija winery bring s anew level of experimentation to the Turkish wine industry. While great believers in what terroir brings to a wine, therefore planting the same varieties in multiple

  I joke that my research into Turkish wine essentially involved drinking from the bottom of the shelf up. But honestly that's actually what I did. After being more than a year in Turkey I still was not convinced that the wine here was especially good. At that time I was still pretty near the bottom of the shelf and was only doing my "research" halfheartedly. One night, I paired a semi-sweet Bornova Misketi with a spicy Chinese dry pepper chicken. Apparently I thought I knew better how to cook than the person who made the recipe. Spoiler alert, I didn't. The recipe called for me to saute Chinese peppercorns