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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This month, Linda from My Full Wine Glass has challenged the #WinePW group to find those 'difficult' to pair foods. You can read her
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Narince is made into fresh stainless steel aged wines, rich oak-raised wines, and traditional method sparkling wines. They are always dry. Narince is never
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This is a semi sponsored post but all opinions are my own. While Paşaeli has built a reputation for its wines made from rescued and
Read MoreFranco Terpin's winery straddles two worlds. Well, two countries in any case. Located in San Floriano del Collio, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, the winery
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To begin, Solaris is not a wine name, it's the grape. Developed in Germany in 1975, Solaris is a hybrid grape. Now, get ready
Read MoreDo not judge a book by its cover! We all know this. Sometimes though when it comes to a wine label I forget. I'm
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I realized a few months ago that I have tried every wine from Urla Şarapçılık except the winery's rosé. Since I don't generally hold
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Last summer during a trip to Hungary, I discovered a new (to me) grape: Kéknyelű. Little is known about this grape's history. What I know for
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I love sweet wines. Perhaps I have mentioned that a time or two on this blog! I'd been curious about the Corvus Passito, having
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Asmadan winery, located in Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula, has vineyards in several locations in Turkey. Some surround the winery, others sit in the
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I love doing side-by-side wine comparisons. For example, when a producer makes multiple styles of wine from the same grape. So when I saw
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For May's Wine Paired Weekend event, Wendy Klik of A Day in the Life on the Farm has invited us to explore the wines
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Just in time for international #SauvBlancDay, my new favorite Turkish Sauvignon Blanc: Saranta Chateau Murou Sauvignon Blanc. This is a hugely popular grape in Turkey.
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Of all the random things for a Turkish company to produce, we have some pretty decent buffalo burrata here. The company recently released a
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Such is the scarcity of MMG Şarapçılık's wines that the only two vintages of their Syrah I've had were made seven years apart! One of
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It was recently pointed out to me that I never posted a list of my favorite wines from 2020. In fact, I have not
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The #WorldWineTravel blogging group continues its virtual exploration of Spain this month with a trip to Rías Baixas! Host Linda from My Full Wine
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I haven't written before about Çakır Bağcılık ve Şarapçılık. It's a newish winery, releasing its first vintage only last year. Until recently this was the
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Sauvignon Blanc wines enjoy a huge amount of popularity in Turkey. It's right up there with Chardonnay. Generally if a winery makes one, it
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To celebrate Earth Month, Gwendolyn the Wine Predator challenged the #Winophiles group to find a wine that celebrates "Loire's organic gardens." You can view
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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
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Selefkia Wines is one of the few (well one of the two!) wineries based in southern Turkey's Mediterranean region of Mersin. The winery makes
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This month I'm hosting the Wine Paired Weekend group's exploration of underrated European wine regions. You can read my invitation here. There are so
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I begin this post with a little bit of a rant. One of my recent wine pet peeves concerns the hype around small production
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Often in Turkey I buy wines from winemakers or wineries I like whether or not I want the actual wine. Such was the case
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Uçmakdere Winery, based in the village of the same name along the Sea of Marmara, is one of the most exciting wineries for me
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This month Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla has invited the #Winophiles group to explore French grown around the world. You can view her
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I thought I'd had all of Gordias's wines. The I stumbled across a picture of this blend on the winery's Instagram feed. A wine
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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,
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Owned and operated by the Romero Marcuzzi family, Bodega El Porvenir sits on the top of the world. Sort of. Located in Salta in Argentina's
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Foça Karası has slowly and quietly snuck its way into the Turkish wine scene. This Aegean grape, like many in Turkey, takes its name
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This month Linda of My Full Wine Glass has invited the #ItalianFWT group to explore Italian grapes grown outside of Italy. You can view
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Vin Amoris is a very special wine from Vino Dessera. Winery owner Doğan Dönmez, in partnership with his oenological consultant Xavier Vignon, created this
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For our February #WorldWineTravel event, Susannah Gold of Avvinare has invited us to explore Catalunya - Emporda, Alella, Pla de Bages, Penedès, Conca de
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Yanık Ülke Bağları translates as “vineyards of the burnt land.” Located at 924 meters above sea level on the rocky volcanic slopes of the
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We spent Valentine's Day in Istanbul under both our regular weekend lockdown and a blanket of snow this year. Since we couldn't go out
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Friday heralded the Year of the Ox in the Chinese calendar. The day before happened to be a good friend's birthday. She usually holds
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Flipping through my wine notes recently reminded me that I haven't written about my favorite pirate-themed winery lately. Well, okay no, Barbare is not
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In Georgian white wine, Rkatsiteli reigns supreme. If you've had Georgian white (or amber) wine you've likely had this grape. Or maybe a Mtsvane.
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To kick of 2021, the #ItalianFWT group is embracing the cold weather. Host Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla has invited us all to
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I've been taking the Wine Scholar Guild's (Northern) Italian Wine Scholar course. Even though I have a million other things I should be doing,
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Today is Furmint Day! I love, love, love Furmint. Dry, sweet, and everything in between. Sadly, my extremely limited supply of Furmint has dwindled.
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Karaoğlan is one of those Turkish grapes few people talk about and even fewer have heard about. However, I think that will soon change.
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If Turkey has a traditional wine blend it would be Öküzgözü Boğazkere. These two grapes native to Turkey's eastern provinces (of Elazığ and Diyarbakır respectively)
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It seems difficult to think of a time when Greece and Malagousia were not synonymous. Granted my entrée to Greek wine is recent. But
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We're kicking off the new #WorldWineTravel blogging group with a trip to La Rioja! Well a virtual trip in any case! You can read
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Here in Turkey we have a grape called, Öküzgözü, which means "bull's eye." Hungary goes one step further with a wine they have: Bikavér
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