Keeping true to its brand, last year when 7Bilgeler released a new white blend, the winery named it for an ancient philosopher. The 7Bilgeler
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Last year on a visit to Athens, the owner of one of my favorite wine shops (Alpha Sigma) helped me pick out a few
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If you know me, you probably know that I don't like Kavaklidere. My dislike has nothing to do with its size; it being one
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Last fall I finally made a pilgrimage back to Michigan. While there, I did a fair amount of shopping. Including, of course, a lot
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Nearly extinct until the 1970s, Kalecik Karası has become of of Turkey's most popular and widely planted grapes. While red wines remain the most
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Last year I received a tasting set of Riedel Winewings from their Turkish importer KTD. One glass each for Sauvingon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo,
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What do you get when a popular wine bar and a great winery form a partnership? A whole mess of new wines, that's what!
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Several months back I met a lovely new wine friend. Here in Turkey on vacation with her (equally lovely) mother, she got in touch
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The Mor Salkım Volante Narince Emir is something of a rare blend. It's not unheard of at all, but not something we see frequently.
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Last year, we thrilled at Paşaeli's release of four pét-nats. This year, one more joins Paşaeli's - the Arcadia Sauvingon Gris Pét-Nat. I've seen
Read MoreI recently-ish wrote a post about some of the Malagousia wines I've enjoyed. I somehow left out the Ktima Zafeirakis Malagousia. Which is crazy
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Recently I wrote a post about (some of) the best Turkish Pinot Noirs. I left out two wines on purpose, the Ayda Bağları Pinot
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Another new-ish winery to emerge in Turkey over the last few years is Taneanda. This Thrace-based winery has put out three vintages thus far,
Read MoreThe Chateau Gali Viognier is not a new wine. It's been around for a few vintages now. But it's not easy to get so
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While for reasons beyond my ken Karasakız is not more popular in Turkey, it is certainly one of the country's most facile grapes. One
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New on the market last year, Etruscan Bağcılık introduced several new wines. While the winery got started in 2010, it kept pretty quiet
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This month to celebrate spring and Easter, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, has invited the #Wineophiles group to share spring recipes and French
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For several years Ma'Adra's Öküzgözü rosé has been one of my go-to rosés. But I've always wondered why they don't make a red. I
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One of the newest members of the Urla Bağ Yolu, Çakır Bağcılık ve Şarapçılık prides itself on growing its vines just meters from its
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Cab Franc day is long over but my love for the grape goes year 'round! I've had the Arcadia A Cabernet Franc before but
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Assyrian winery Midin sits farther east than any other winery in Turkey, practically at Syria’s doorstep. Located in the Şırnak province, the winery faces
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Have you ever had a bottle of wine that you know you should be drinking but you never seem to be in the right
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When Arda Bağcılık first started producing wines, it focused on international grape varieties like Cabernet and Shiraz. The family-run wine has slowly been introducing
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Selefkia Wine, a small, family winery has been reaching for the stars since it opened in 2008. Alaaddin Çerçi, along with his wife Sakine and
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Lent started last week. What are you giving up? Sweets? Coffee? TV? I can tell you what I'm NOT giving up and that's wine.
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For this month's Wine Paired Weekend event, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, has invited us to explore new to
Read MoreOne of the newer additions to the Turkish wine scene, Kayraklı Şarapçılık is based in the Muğla district of the Aegean. Founder Orhan Kayraklı
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Well, are they really the best Turkish Pinot Noir wines? Some of them are certainly the best in my opinion! But that title will
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What's that saying about nothing good happens after midnight? While often associated with crime/thriller stories (one assumes because only criminals are out and about
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Usually I get Greek wine from my friends who live in Athens. But in December they gave me three wines from
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I first learned about Chatzivaritis Estate from one of Moshe Cohen's In the Vineyard With podcast episodes, A Greek Wine Odyssey. It sounded like
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I've posted several reviews semi-recently from the Pamukkale Nodus line including the Nodus Fumé Blanc and Nodus Cabernet Sauvignon. The sudden frequency of the
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After recently talking about Gamay as an emerging popular grape, let's take a look at Semillon, specifically, the Arda Rezerv Semillon. Like Gamay, Semillon
Read MoreA few months ago I finally got a chance to go back to Michigan. I want to say it's been about four years since
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Nothing can stop my love for Assyrtiko. Much as I love exploring other and new grapes in Greece, I always buy a couple few
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Akın Gürbüz has built a name for himself in Turkey as a talented winemaker and wine consultant and his latest wine, the Akın Gürbüz
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I go to Greece fairly often. It is just kind of next door and two of my best friends live in Athens. Partially for
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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
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Even before my obsession enthusiasm for Turkish wine began, I knew the name Chateau Nuzun. I knew it as the closest winery to Istanbul
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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
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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
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Quick, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about sparkling wine? I could take a few guesses. But I'm going
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When you think of sparkling wine, which countries pop into mind? Probably France, Italy, Spain? Maybe Germany, Australia, or the UK? Something I have
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I recently came back from a trip to Crete. My first time on the island, in fact my first time in ages outside of
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Barel Bağları Gamay joins the (albeit limited) ranks of Turkish Gamays. Why this grape has suddenly become so popular is mystery - to me
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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
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This year, I get the honor of kicking of the #WinePW 2022 calendar with a celebration of bubbles from around the world! For this month's
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I was so excited when the #WinePW 2021 calendar came out and Deanna from Wineivore suggested a Greek wine theme. You can view her
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Cabernet Franc doesn't get a whole month of celebration the way Merlot does. And while #CabFranc day has passed (you can read my post
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Last year, the #WinePW group celebrated the December 4 #CabFrancDay with pairings and wines from around the world. I of course joined in with
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In 2005, the Erdem Yılmaze and his wife were lured by friends to the Çömelek village near Mersin on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Enchanted by
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I don't drink a lot of Moschofilero when I'm in Greece. But every time I do, I chide myself all over again for neglecting
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Recently, I have read more than a few pieces about Wiener Gemischter Satz which reminded me that I'd also recently drunk some. Thanks to
Read MoreTurkey is no stranger to sparkling wine production. Ankara-based Vinkara wines made the first traditional method sparkling wine (with Kalecik Karası) years ago. Suvla
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Edirne-based Arda Bağcılık has been a favorite winery of mine for years now. One of the first I ever visited in Turkey, this family-run
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One of the very first boxes I received from the Oenotrian wine club was themed to look at how Turkish wine ages. The box
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Akın Gürbüz has made several Sauvignon Blanc wines over the last few years. Sometimes single vineyard, sometimes blends. I have enjoyed all of them.
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Happy Halloween!! Not that I often (or maybe not ever) do Halloween posts
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The last few weeks, I've posted about wineries like Likya and Saranta growing Öküzgözü outside of it's traditional home. This week, I'm making an
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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
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This year for October, the month of #MerlotMe, I did not have a lot of new wines to try. For the #WinePW event I
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While more and more new wineries pop up in Turkey, on an almost annual basis now! Assyrian wineries are still a minority. While a
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Last year for the #WinePW #MerlotMe event, I paired a late harvest, dry, Merlot by Arda and you can see that pairing here. Knowing
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It's Merlober! What else could the #WinePW group be exploring this month than that most divisive of grapes, Merlot? This month's host Jeff from
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If you've seen the movie, Sideways, you'll remember the infamous line about Merlot. Some attribute the movie to the grape's loss of popularity in
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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
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It must be two years now since I visited Mor Salkım in Bodrum. At the time, the winery largely catered to the droves of
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Not that very many things ever were fully closed for COVID (or not at least for long), but Turkey is more and more open
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We left the A. Gere vineyards on day 3 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu and headed to their winery for a walk around tasting
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This is the first review I've done for this winery. And while I've now had a couple few of their wines, I still don't
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After our tasting and dinner at Lajvér Borbirtok in Szekszárd, we got back in our cars for the day's final drive. Happily, not three
Read MoreWe left Tornai after our tasting to continue our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu in a different region: Szekszárd. But first, another three hour drive!
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I am slowly slowly coming around to rosé. Well, I say "slowly slowly" but I'm discovering more and more wines that I enjoy. In
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We woke up on the morning of Day 2 of our Hungarian wines tour with Hungarianwines.eu at Dominium Pincészet in Mátra. After a quick
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After lunch at the Paris Passage, we headed east of Budapest to the Mátra region. With vineyards located on the lower slopes of the
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The story of USCA Winery began some 15 years ago when a group of friends, fascinated by the world of wine, decided to open
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For the last four years, Hungarian Wines EU, founded by the fantastic Ágnes Németh, has run a writing competition. This was the first year
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While I have embarked on a journey to learn to love rosé, that's not why I bought this one. Of all the wine tasting
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Based on the Ionian island of Corfu, the Grammenos Family launched its winery in the late 1980s, before the Corfu PGI (est. 1996) even
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Quite some time ago I had the opportunity to attend a vertical tasting of some of Doluca's Karma wines. These were the red blends,
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The Hasandede grape hails from Turkey's Central Anatolia region. It has historically not been shown a lot of love by the winemaking community. But
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Female owned and operated Tafali Bağcılık is one of Turkey's newest wineries. Based in Kalecik, join the ranks of wineries like Tomurcukbağ and Vinkara
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For August's #WinePW event, host Gwendolyn from The Wine Predator, has invited us to explore amphora aged wines from around the world. You can
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In a somewhat recent wine tasting, Drink Pink!, I featured a series of rosé wines. I'd had many of them before. Two were go-to
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Kerküş is not a grape we talk about a lot. In fact, I have written about it only once after visiting Shiluh in Mardin.
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Shortly before Christmas I saw that my local shop, La Cave, would soon be stocking a new wine from Kayra. Kayra might be one
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[caption id="attachment_16139" align="alignleft" width="225"] Pürneşe red label[/caption] Pürneşe is a semi-new series from Vino Dessera. Occupying a place in the winery's mid-range line up, the
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7Bilgeler (or Yedi Bilgeler as you prefer) has long produced wines I've liked and admired. My one issue was that all the wines were
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Like the Likya Öküzgözü I was crushing on last week, Saranta winery also grows this grape outside its traditional home of Elazığ. Unlike Likya,
Read MoreFor years Bozcaada wineries have more or less quietly made wine with Karalahna. Maybe it's me noticing it more or maybe it's that the
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My introduction to Hungarian wine occurred on a work trip to Budapest in 2004. Budapest is a beautiful city I have since fallen in
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When I'm in Athens, my friend M and I play a game. We stand in front of the wine shelves at his local grocery
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The bulk of Öküzgözü in Turkey grows in the grape's homeland of Elazığ in Eastern Anatolia. The most widely-planted Turkish black grape sometimes gets
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Given my recent complain about the current trend for blanc de noir Papazkarası and the lack of good red wines made with it, I
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The Urla district of İzmir in Turkey's Aegean region has become a hotbed of trendy wineries. Many belong to the Urla Bağ Yolu (the
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For this month's #ItalianFWT, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla has invited us all to explore the world of Ramato wines. You can read
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In the game of 'follow the leader', the current fashion for Thracian wineries is to have a blanc de noir Papazkarası. This is one
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To kick off summer, I recently hosted an online wine tasting of some of Turkey's island wines. Turkey has several islands which boast great
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Pošip was a new to me grape when I got this bottle. I'd heard of it but hadn't ever had it. Luckily for me,
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Have you ever found a producer who just excels at something? For me that person is Akın Gürbüz. I enjoy all his wines (his new
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