ParMieux Adventures

Persimmon Pudding Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 10:48:00 +0000

After the success of the persimmon bread I made I decided to try out a persimmon dessert recipe: persimmon pudding cake. It's as easy to mix up as the bread was-easier in fact as there are no dates to pit and chop!

Sherlock wanted in on the baking action

I do love persimmons but they are a bit of a pain to work with. Often if I can find persimmons with perfect skin I just chop them into quarters and give them a whir in the food processor. However this last trip to the market didn't result in the nicest of persimmons; they were all fairly heavily damaged so I had to skin them before tossing them in the food processor.

Despite my annoyance with the state of the persimmons; I love the cozy feeling I get from baking in the autumn and winter. Part of it is that the window in my apartment doesn't seal so it's freezing in my kitchen. Strong wind often forces it open, knocking over my electric kettle and making a mess of my (admittedly only sometimes) clean counter. So keeping the oven working, especially when it emanates the rich, warm aromas of cinnamon and clove not only heats up the kitchen but makes the entire apartment feel that much warmer.

Using fleur de sal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove

This recipe by Simply Recipes is a nice, quick little bake that results in a really moist, slightly spongy cake that I enjoyed not only as dessert but for breakfast. Aside from anything involving bacon, dessert for breakfast is one of my favorite things. I had to use a few short cuts from the original recipe skipping spices that I don't have but it still turned out pretty well, especially when highlighted with fresh whipped cream. Although what doesn't fresh whipped cream improve?

Persimmon Pudding Cake (adapted from Simply Recipes)

2 cups Hachiya persimmon pulp (about 4 persimmons)
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp fleur de sal (or 1/2 tsp regular salt)
2 tsps cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp clove
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large bowl, mix together the persimmon pulp, eggs, melted butter, milk, and vanilla (I used Tahitian).
In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (expect the nuts).
In three additions, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet then fold in the nuts.
Bake in a square pan for about 50 minutes*.

*My cake ended up more cake than pudding so I think I let it bake a little too long. Maybe check it first at 40 minutes then keep an eye on it.

Georgian Eggplant with Walnuts and Garlic

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 12:34:00 +0000

I returned from Georgia with a pretty good stash of contraband; largely wine and cheese but I also picked up some Georgian spices: marigold and blue fenurgeek. The massive amount of cheese I'll address later and for reviews of all those lovely wines check my website ParMieux Wine Adventures because today we're talking about cooking with those spices.

I love Georgian food. If it weren't for the copious amounts of cilantro they use then I'd say Georgian food was pretty darn perfect.While I was in Tbilisi I made sure to buy a lot of the spices I need to make Georgian food at home, namely dried marigold and blue fenugreek.

I really have absolutely no idea what blue fenugreek is but it's a vital ingredient in my favorite Georgian side dish-the eggplants with walnut and garlic paste. This appetizer, served cold, is an amazing melding of flavors. I particularly like to garnish it with pomegranate seeds which, while entirely optional, really add just an extra pop of flavor that brings it all together.

I can, and have, eaten an entire plate of these on my own. I believe that on our recent visit KMac and I ordered this at least once a day. So when I got home with my stash of Georgian spices and wine it seemed like the perfect thing to pair with the Tsitska wine I brought-and it rather was quite a perfect pairing!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do! They're a little fussy to make, especially if you use the pomegranate seeds, but so worth it!

Georgian Eggplant with Walnuts

Ingredients:

500 grams of eggplant (5-ish eggplants)
250 grams walnuts
1 teaspoon dried blue fenugreek
1 teaspoon dried marigold
1 teaspoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
4 large cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt
oil
water
pomegranate seeds (optional)

Method:

Using a food processor, blend the walnuts and garlic. In a medium sized bowl combine the walnut garlic mixture with the spices, salt, and vinegar, Add enough water to bring the mixture to a paste-like consistency (5 or tablespoonsful).
Slice the eggplants fairly thinly. In a frying pan heat the oil and fry on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Place eggplant slices on paper towels to absorb the extra oil.
Once the eggplant slices have cooled, spread the walnut mixture on half the eggplant, fold (in half) then spread more walnut mixture on top.
Garnish with fresh cilantro if you're crazy or pomegranate seeds. Serve cold.

Persimmon Date Walnut Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 11:58:00 +0000

It's fall! Today it really feels like it; the temperature in Istanbul dropped about 10 (Celsius) degrees overnight. So now it's cold and grey but cold fall weather means fall baking! Fall also means persimmons which I love.

Homemade orange blossom water from Lebanon!

We only get one kind of persimmon here, the hachiya persimmon. For me the trickiest part about working with these persimmons is making sure to not smash them while getting them home! Hachiya persimmons aren't at their full ripeness until they're so soft they feel like they've rotted.

Thank goodness this recipe calls for persimmon puree because there's no way a fruit this soft and delicate is getting sliced nicely! Other than chopping the dates this was a super fast and easy recipe. I ended up using mini loaf pans to bake it and shared it around with my friends-I think this is the most popular thing I've ever made! Everyone went nuts for it. It is really good; it tastes like autumn.

Pitting and chopping the dates takes forever, they're so blasted sticky. Between that and the molasses I'm not sure I'll ever de-stick my counter. Brown sugar as we know it in America doesn't exist here so I have to make my own; which I can do thanks to the gift of molasses from a friend in Germany (as regular molasses also doesn't exist here) and the food processor E&M lent me that I kind of never returned. Oops.

The other great thing about fall baking? It warms up the apartment! My building has central heat which is annoying on several levels but it only works in two rooms and the window in my kitchen doesn't quite close so it's always cold in there.

Between the bread's resounding popularity, how blasted easy it is to make, and the warm and cozy feeling I get with the baking aromas wafting out of the oven...yeah I'll be making this again!

Persimmon Date Walnut Bread (adapted from The Little Epicurean)
Makes one 9 inch loaf pan or five mini loaves

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fleur de sal*
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
several dashes of ground clove
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla (I used Tahitian)
4 eggs, room temp and slightly beaten
1/4 cup orange blossom water*
2 cups persimmon puree (about 4 hachiya persimmons)
2 cups toasted, chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped dates

*optional

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients (flour, salts, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, and sugars).
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, beaten eggs, and persimmon puree. Whisk until combined. Fold in the walnuts and dates.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan(s) and bake for about 45-50 minutes.

I Accidentally Climbed the Caucasus Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 11:46:00 +0000

After a much better night of sleep in our new, cushy hotel, KMac and I were up and ready for a tour of the Kakheti region. We'd arranged with the hotel to use their car (and driver) to see some of the sights. We really hoped they'd told him the places we suggested because he spoke no English, we obviously no Georgian, and my Russian is not only crap, it's become some sort of weird Russo-Serbian mutant.

After driving for about an hour we pulled up to the Khareba winery. It wasn't on our list but as far as I'm concerned, a wine tasting is an auspicious way to start out any tour! Khareba is one of the country's largest producers. Don't mistake size for quality though. The wine was fine, I've certainly had much worse, but it's not special.We really enjoyed the tour though and bought a couple bottles to take back to the hotel along with a few bottles of locally pressed grape seed oil.

Before we knew how bad it was going to be

Back on the road we drove closer and closer to the Caucasus Mountains. It wasn't too long before our driver gestured at a structure at the top of one of the peeks. "Monastery" he said to which we made agreeing noises. Monasteries were on our list so we were feeling pretty good about this as long, I joked to KMac, as we didn't have to walk up the bloody mountain to get there.

Me and my big mouth. Our driver dropped us off at the base and told us (in Russian) that he'd wait over there for us. Exchanging trepedacious looks, KMac and I got out. We walked around a small parking lot area not really knowing what to do and started following the road up the mountain. Why pave a nice road if they weren't going to allow vehicles?

The Nekresi Monastery

Qvevri still in the ground from the monastery's wine making

We walked for about 20 minutes and stopped for a breather, a long one, and to assess if we wanted to keep going or not. Then we heard an engine and saw a tour bus as it drove down the mountain. No private cars allowed but tour buses were? A good excuse for a long breather we looked up the Nekresi Monastery on TripAdvisor and learned that apparently there were buses which (for a small fee) would drive you up and down the mountain. Sigh. Now we had another decision to make; walk down and get the bus (which apparently only runs when full) or keep going. We pushed on.

A few minutes, and our next breather later, we ran across a group of German-speaking tourists coming down. KMac asked if we had much farther to go and after laughing they told we weren't even half way yet. Not even half way?! I was terrified. I was going to die. My heart was going to explode and I was going to die; but for some reason we decided to keep going!

So onward we trudged. Each time we came to another sharp bend in the road I prayed that we were at the peek and each time I was disappointed. Finally many, many breathers-and about an hour later-we reached the Nekresi Monastery. Was it worth it? Eh.

The views were stunning and the buildings all still in very good repair but I wouldn't have climbed a mountain for that. If you go, be aware that to the right of the entrance is a small booth that sells tickets for the mini bus. Take the mini bus.

Gremi Castle and church

A little afraid that our driver might have given us up for dead, we caught the bus down slightly afraid of what our next stop might be. We arrived at Gremi Castle which was both on our list and mercifully set on only a small hill. A small but nice complex, Gremi includes a large church and adjacent "castle" slash tower which is now a museum.

Church from the tower

In the museum, also small but nice, we had the pleasure of getting a bot of a guided tour of local history from one of the workers who spoke excellent English. After our tour we climbed up into the tower, which wasn't nearly as stair-scary as I thought it would be, in order to take in the amazing views. There are not enough songs to Georgia's beauty; it's a stunning country.

Back in the car and a short drive later we arrived at the Alaverdi Monastery. Also on our list I was hoping we could kill two birds with one stone here: a church for KMac and wine tasting for me. I'd read a lot about the wines coming out of Alaverdi Monastery and was hoping to try them. We got the church but weren't able to do a wine tasting. For which I would later be glad.

The church at the monastery is huge. We sneaked quietly into the back as there was a liturgy on but I didn't stay long. Incense + me = insta-migraine.

The last stop on our tour was the Alexander Chavchavadze museum in Tsinandali. This one did include a wine tasting! The museum is definitely worth a visit to see the house if nothing else. We were also lucky enough to be there for a temporary exhibition by an Italian artist who repurposes old wine barrels to make furniture, art, toys, etc. That was really cool and now I need to build a special wine room in my future home to house not only my future wine collection but also furniture made out of old barrels.

The drive back to Sighnaghi was particularly painful for me. I'd hoped that the car sickness during the original drive up could be attributed to all that wine and no food I'd had that day; sadly no. I wanted to die. When we finally got back to Sighnaghi and I got a few deep breaths of the clear, high elevation air I was good to go.

For dinner that evening we tracked down Okro's Winery (it's hidden up behind the Hotel Signagi) where we had a nice tour and tasting from one of the family members and stayed for dinner. We tried four of Okro's wines but my hands down favorite was their Mtsvane. We even didn't hate their chacha. Unlike most distilleries, Okro's makes theirs from wine instead of pressing the must left after pressing grapes for wine.

Even though our day was a little more adventurous than I'd planned it was a good day and a great way to remember Kakheti before heading back to Tbilisi.

Kakheti, Georgia - More Adventure Than I Wanted Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 14:13:00 +0000

In September I went on an amazing* trip to Georgia with my friend KMac and somehow totally forgot to write about it!

We arrived in Tbilisi separately, and quite late; me at around midnight and KMac at about 3 AM. Just as the flight attendants were giving everyone the death glare to turn off their phones on my flight I received a message from KMac saying "Don't take a cab! You'll be met at the airport!". And sure enough, after waiting what felt like an hour for my bag I entered the arrivals terminal where I was greeted by a Georgian Orthodox priest.

That was definitely a first for me.

We would see a lot of Father N. during this trip but for the time being I was grateful for the lift.

After a good sleep in, KMac and I stretched our legs on Rustaveli Avenue on our way to meet the team behind Exotic Wine Travels. We'd connected through social media and it turned out we were going to be in Tbilisi at the same time; me just starting to learn about Georgian wines and them promoting their fantastic book, Uncorking the Caucasus.

We met them at Vino Underground, a great wine bar owned by a group of Georgia's leading natural wine makers where we proceeded to enjoy three, or was it four? amazing bottles of Georgian wine. Unfortunately between then and catching our ride with Father N to Sighnaghi, neither KMac nor I had time to eat. Combine that with major car sickness from the windy mountainous drive and I wanted to die. I don't think I've been that car sick since the drive from Sarajevo to Belgrade.

It was late when we finally made it to our guesthouse and we were ready to sleep. I had booked us rooms at the most highly rated guesthouse (the most common type of accommodation outside Tbilisi) in Sighnaghi-David Zandrashvili's Guesthouse. We knew we weren't in for five start treatment but we were a little shocked by what we found. To start, apparently there was a 10 PM curfew that wasn't listed in the house rules online. That curfew would explain why the guesthouse, at capacity, was practically shaking with the loud music, singing, and stomp-dancing of other guests. I settled into room while KMac was shown to hers: downstairs, through the common room, through the dining room, through the kitchen, then outside again, down some unlit stairs that had no handrail, and into another building.

Sighnaghi

Streets of Sighnaghi

Five minutes later I got a message from KMac: "There's a huge spider in my room! I tried to kill it but it got away!" Not a fan of spiders myself I told her that if she wanted, she was welcome in my (assumingly) spider-free room. No, no, she assured me; but several minutes later I got another message: "Now there's another, completely different spider. I'm on my way!" Between the noise of other guests, paper thin walls, and the loud, creaky bed it was hours before we were able to get to sleep.

We were up early the next morning with two missions: attend orthodox liturgy since there are no Catholic churches in Sighnaghi, and find a new hotel. Luckily we were successful in both endeavors and in the afternoon dragged our suitcases up the hill to the posh, and pricey hotel spa where we stayed three years ago. What a difference.

Sighnaghi city walls

View of Sighnaghi from our hotel

Happily ensconced in our new hotel, and after a brief rest to make up for all the sleep we missed the night before, we headed out to find two of the most important things you could ever want in Georgia: food and wine. For dinner we headed to a restaurant called Wine World. You call a restaurant 'Wine World' and there are certain assumptions, right? As in, lots of wine. No. There were three house wines: red, white, and green. We went with the green which wasn't too bad as long as we thought of it as ice tea instead of wine. The food was killer though. We had mtsvade (grilled pork and onions), lobiani (bread stuffed with slow cooked beans), eggplant with walnut garlic paste, and sulguni cheese stuffed mushrooms baked in a clay dish. So don't go to Wine World for the wine but it's worth it for the food.

We bought a bottle of wine to take back to our hotel and drank it on the hotel sky terrace playing with the astrology star app on KMac's phone. Then it was time for bed to rest up for our tour of Kakheti the next day-a tour that included us accidentally climbing a mountain!

*All trips to Georgia would be amazing but traveling with KMac comes with extra experiences; but more on that later!

Istanbul Photowalk: Yedikule and Samatya

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 08:10:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago M and I went on another great photowalk with the Istanbul Language Exchange Club. It was unfortunately a very overcast day but that did not stop our enjoyment!

Ruins of a Byzantine hamam

Yedikule

I was particularly excited about this walk because, while I've driven by Yedikule a million times I've never actually been. Built in 1458, Yedikule, which means 'seven towers' in Turkish, takes up a corner of the old Byzantine wall and was used as a fortress, prison, and site of frequent executions. Now it's a park. It's totally where you want to have a picnic.

While bits and pieces of the fort have been restored, like much of the old wall, you can still see some of the original Greek inscriptions and Roman carvings. Near the fortress there is one city gate in particular through which only Roman soldiers were allowed to pass.

From Yedikule, which is near the Bosphorus, we walked farther inland roving through the small, mostly residential streets on our way to Samatya. Like a lot of Istanbul, the houses are a mix of collapsing buildings that were probably at one time amazing and ugly block buildings with the occasional hidden gem tucked away.

Samatya was a lot like those occasional gems-a small, charming neighborhood tucked into a grey, dirty big city. With colorful buildings, lively squares, relaxing cafes, and some of the city's best fish restaurants this neighborhood is worth the trouble of deeper exploration.

As we made our way towards Aksaray we stopped in one of the (surprisingly) many Armenian churches. This one, hidden in a courtyard behind high walls like most of Istanbul's Christian churches, used to be the Armenian Patriarchate. At first our group wasn't even allowed through the gate-we were told that we would scare the children (?!) but they changed their minds and allowed us in. Then after giving us permission to take pictures we were kicked out for taking pictures.

The Sultan's box up on the left

After a less than successful visit there we headed to one of Istanbul's Imperial Mosques which was a much friendlier place. Sadly somehow every single one of the pictures I took inside is blurry. They look like I was snapping the picture and spinning in circles at the same time.

Our last stop was another mosque. Not an imperial mosque this time, a brand new one-so new even that it's still not open. I have never seen a modern mosque like this one and while I think Istanbul has a few too many already, this one is a piece of modern architectural art that I wish were in a more easily accessible part of the city so that more people could appreciate it.

So another great walk during which we got to explore parts of the city we would otherwise never have seen!

ParMieux Wine Adventures - New Website!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 14:45:00 +0000

Hi Everyone!

I am starting a new website to chronicle my wine adventures and it's going LIVE today for Wine Wednesday!!

I'll still be posting here about food and travel and we're going to be seeing a lot more posts from Lauren again however all the wine stuff is moving to the new website!

Please come visit the new site at ParMieux Wine Adventures! http://www.parmieuxwineadventures.com/

Hope to see you all there!

Turkish Wine of the Week - Pamukkale 2015 Sole and 2014 Diamond

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 13:30:00 +0000

I recently saw an Instagram post from Pamukkale showing several new wines and I had to try them. I'm a bit of a magpie and am attracted to shiny/sparkly objects so the label of Pamukkale's new Sole line attracted me right away. And for 16 TL how can you go wrong?

Normally Pamukkale is not one of my go-to producers. For one thing they're responsible for Sava which is one of the cheapest wines available here and gives a bad name to vinegar. However since I can't afford to spend 90+ TL on every bottle of wine I drink I am always looking for quality inexpensive wines. I don't promise huge quality here, but Pamukkale's white Sole, which is a dry Sultaniye, is pretty quaffable.

Brilliant gold in the glass it's very aromatic with a nose of flowers and tropical fruits. It is a little flabby, there's not a lot of acid to balance the flavor which becomes a problem as the wine warms up so serve this right out of the refrigerator and you'll still get the tropical flavors without the lack of acid making things awkward.

If you decide to give this one a try make sure you drink it within a few months of purchasing it and you store it out of the light. Clear bottles like this provide no protection for the wine inside opening the wine to major sun damage.

The Diamond is another newish line from Pamukkale and also only 16 TL a bottle (The Cave) it's actually not a horrible wine. I bought it a bit on impulse but then was reluctant to open it; I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

In the glass it's a rather beautiful color: brilliant clear wheat-gold. I'm not sure what the grape in the Diamond is because I am no where near that good yet (possible another Sultaniye-Pamukkale seems to like this grape) but whatever it was has a very fruity nose. There's not a great deal of finish to this but the mouthwatering acid and dry, slightly oaky finish balanced well with the citrus, tropical, apple and floral flavors.

Is this even in the top 20 white wines I've tried this summer? No. But will you embarrass yourself if you take it to a party? Also no. For 16 TL it's really perfectly drinkable.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Papazın Şarabı 2012 Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Gris

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 15:28:00 +0000

I don't actually know where the Papazın Şarabı/Palivor Çiftliği crossover happens. I did some light Googling and couldn't find the connection but it was the Palivor Çiftliği logo that got me to buy this so whatever the partnership is Papazın Şarabı owes at least one sale to them. Truly I bought this bottle because there's a buck on the label and I thought it would amuse my Daddy who is a hunter.

This was not a light decision to pick up. Sure I got a giggle over the buck on the label but at 80TL from Carrefour this wasn't a small investment, especially considering that the last time I tangled with a Sauvignon Gris I was utterly unimpressed.

In the glass it's a clear, pale gold with a lot of citrus, white flowers, and a little oaky something in the nose. This one could definitely use a little breathing time as initially the acid was quite high, giving a bit of a fizz on the tongue like a Lambrusco. Once it opened up and the fizz died down it was actually rather creamy in the mouth but no finish to speak of. The aromas carried through to the palate with white flowers and a lemon/lime citrus but also with a little bit of orange at the tail end.

In the end what this was was a porch wine. It's an easily sipable wine for the afternoon you're out enjoying your garden in the sun and don't want a super challenging beverage. I won't say that it was worth 80TL, but I did not regret the money spent.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Visiting Edirne and the Arda Winery

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:18:00 +0000

Happily day two in Edirne was only about 35-36 C and not 38 because we had to bundle up several times to visit some more mosques.We started the day at the Eski Camii (Old Mosque) located just down the street from the Selimiye Mosque.

This is possibly the most uniquely decorated mosque I've ever visited. Rather than tiles or frescoes, the Old Mosque, completed in 1414, is almost stark of decoration except for the giant Arabic calligraphy inscriptions that dominate the walls and pillars.

After a morning wandering around the Old Mosque and the arasta (bazaar) we headed back to our hotel to check out. We stayed at the Ottoman Palace Hotel which is situated pretty centrally in Edirne. A perfectly decent hotel for the ridiculously low price (about $30/night for a large single) and the owners were very friendly. I'd stored a couple bottles of wine in their refrigerator which sparked a conversation with the owner about Turkish wines. As we were leaving he gave me a bottle of wine that his family makes for themselves!

From our hotel we headed down the street to the Üç Şerefeli Camii (Mosque of the Three Balconies). This stunning mosque, completed in 1447, was impressive even before we got into the courtyard. From outside the wall we could see that not only were the minarets decorated, they were all done in different styles.

Inside was equally lovely with soaring domes and lots of light and space. What I particularly liked was how no space was too small to decorate. Even the inside of the small domes are beautifully decorated. As sad as it is to see the country so devoid of tourists the selfish side of me enjoys it when I can walk into a mosque, museum, church, etc and not have a ton of people in my photos!

In an effort to cover all the major religions in one day, we left this mosque in search of Edirne's Great Synagogue-of which I have no pictures because we got there to find the tall gates closed and locked. I spoke to the group of guards and we discovered that the synagogue was closed only that day. Argh! E&M tried to convince them to let us take a sneak peek but they weren't falling for it. So if you visit Edirne and want to see the Great Synagogue, don't go on a Monday!

We tried out luck next with the Christians of Edirne and drove through some narrow, tricky streets to try to find the Bulgarian church of Sveti Georgi (and don't think there weren't jokes around a mispronunciation of sveti). We got there, after successfully parallel parking no less, only to discover another closed gate-this one topped with razor wire. This was apparently not to be our day of being inclusively religious.

After our disappointments at the synagogue and church we were ready for some good luck which we found at one of my favorite wineries, the Edirne-based boutique winery Arda. Easily spotted from the road, the Arda winery-recognizable from the labels-sits on a vine covered hill that rises above the road. We drove through the vineyard and were slightly taken aback to find a large backhoe digging out the earth along the back wall of the winery. Sadly Arda was having a problem with damp and while the naturally well-irrigated soils are great for the vines, they weren't doing so much for the winery and its contents.

We had a great visit there, fully making up for the day's earlier failures. We met Yavuz who told us how his family got started in the wine business and about the wins they are currently producing. While I asked all my usual wine questions (root stock, irrigation, harvest, barrel ageing etc) we sampled a wide range of the wines. Arda produces three levels of wine:

Sekiz Dokuz: This, their low-end wine is named after the 8/9 rhythm of Gypsy music and is usually sold in bulk for banquets and large events
Kuşlar: This mid-priced wines cover a large number of varietals including: Narince, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and Cabernet-Merlot blend and are among the best mid-priced wines you can get. The Cabernet is one of my go-to wines and even for a non Syrah fan like me, the Shiraz isn't bad.
Reserve: These higher priced wines are well worth the buck (or TL I suppose), especially if you can buy them at the winery where they're far more reasonably priced. The reserve line includes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet-Merlot blend, and Shiraz

Of course I wasn't going to waste the opportunity to buy wine at the winery price; especially since there were several wines there that I haven't seen in Istanbul. I also snagged two of their last four bottles of Narince! Arda is not widely available even in Istanbul but you can find them at Solera (Beyoglu-Yeni Carsi Cd.) and at the wine/whiskey store in Karakoy I can never remember the name of. Helpful I know but it's somewhere near the iskele and offers significantly lower prices.

Arda 2013 Narince: A brilliant, pale yellow in the glass with a very floral, plumeria, and pineapple nose. On the palate it was creamy giving evidence to time spent in oak with bursting flavors of white pineapple, citrus, and white flowers. I'm so sorry that I only bought two bottle of the Narince because it was gorgeous-easily the nicest Narince I've had. And to the sadness of everyone at my Arda tasting, the second bottle was corked. There were tears.

The Cabernet I have reviewed before (see the link referenced above) so I won't rehash that here other than to say it's a lovely medium-bodied Cabernet with a lot of red berry, particularly raspberry flavors.

Arda 2013 Reserve Cabernet-Merlot blend: This has only recently been released and, at the time of our visit, wasn't yet available in Istanbul. You should be on the look out for it though because even for a Merlot naysayer like myself this 50/50 blend was beautiful. Eighteen months in oak (and three in the bottle) and limited filtration gives this blend a beautiful dark garnet color and adds some fascinating oak characteristics without stripping the berry flavors. The nose is redolent with pine forest, forest fruits, chocolate, and clove. In the mouth the tannins are soft and silky and with the black fruit, vanilla, and mocha flavors give a luscious drinking experience.

Arda 2012 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: This one is so beautiful it gets its own picture which I took ages ago when M grilled steaks the size of our heads. Cabernet Sauvignon is often a wine that wants meat and Arda's reserve is no different.

Arda took the Mondus Vini Silver with this wine in the 16th Grand International Wine Awards, and it was well deserved. In the glass it's an intense, beautiful, purple red. The 18 months it spent in oak was obvious right from nose as the tart, dark fruit aromas were accompanied by chocolate and cinnamon. In the mouth the tannins are velvety and long like the finish. A really long finish that just kept going carrying with it the flavors from the nose: bilberry, chocolate, and cinnamon.

Side note: I had to Google bilberry because I've never had one. I was tasting blueberry but not really blueberry and it turns out that the bilberry is a wild, European cousin of the blueberry more similar in flavor to the American huckleberry (which I've also never had so that wasn't all that helpful).

So Arda; beautiful wines made with care and dedication and absolutely worth the effort to track down if you're not near Edirne.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Visiting Edirne and Chamlija's Blanc de Noirs

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:46:00 +0000

A few weeks ago E&M, R, and I headed out of Istanbul. None of us had ever been to Edirne, the old second capitol of the Empire, and on a roll after Bozcaada, I wanted to visit a few area wineries. So we rented a car and headed out to adventure.

Adventure that was made both hilarious and painful long before we ever got to our destination thanks to Google Maps' incredibly bad Turkish pronunciation. I realize it's just a computer but come on. I mean think goodness I wasn't the navigator because I truly had no idea what she was saying.

View of the Mosque of Three Balconies from our hotel

Monument to Mimar Sinan by his greatest mosque

Once we got into Edirne it took several wrong turns, arguing with Google Maps' bad Turkish, and asking directions twice to find our hotel. But once we got there and checked in we set off on a short walk to the Selimiye Mosque. Our first priority was the museums as our guidebooks said they were closed on Monday. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is in the mosque's courtyard which oddly enough made it even more difficult for us to find! We were not having good luck with Google Maps that day. Eventually find it we did and we went in to wander the air conditioned, glassed in corridors that wrap around a courtyard holding old marbles. Several of the displays included tableau of old Ottoman and Turkish life. My favorite being the section on the traditional oil wrestling where there was even a holograph showing a wrestling ceremony.

They're supposed to be wrestling but it looks cannibalistic to me!

From here we wandered across the street to the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum where we discovered more tableau, examples of traditional painting on wood, marbles, statues, and religious bits and bobs from the various cultures that passed through Edirne (once Greek Adrianopole).

It was then time to visit the Selimiye Mosque-once of the greatest of all the Ottoman mosque complexes and a triumph for the leading Ottoman architect: Mimar Sinan. Completed in 1575, a year after his death, the dome of the mosque is six cubits wider and four deeper than that of the Haghia Sofia.

It's a truly stunning creation both architecturally and in its decoration. This is probably my second favorite mosque in Turkey after the Rustem Pasa Mosque in Istanbul. I know, I know...the Blue Mosque blah blah blah-it's nice but there are others that are better and this is definitely one of them.

On our way to Edirne we made a slight detour to visit one of my favorite wineries in Turkey-Chamlija. Not only do I rarely have a bad word to say about Chamlija wines, I almost hands down love (barring Chardonnay which I don't like in general and to be fair have never tried Chamlija's). We were greeted by owner, the charming Mustafa Camlica who runs the vineyards that are dotted around Kirklareli. We sat down to do a tasting and he brought out four wines saying with a grin that we would be "starting with your favorite" as he brandished a bottle of their Albarino. It's true, it is (at least one of!) my favorite. So much so that I've blogged about it twice. However this wasn't just the Albarino-we were treated to a tasting of Chamlija's new 2015 Alvarinho Reserve. This was followed by the 2015 Papaskarasi (I've previously reviewed the 2014), the 2015 Mavrud, and the 2015 Öküzgözü-Boğazkere. Be on the lookout for tasting notes on these at a later date!

Before leaving Chamlija we made plans to order (they deliver to Istanbul if you buy a case!) and also bought a few bottles to go. One of which was the Karıştıran Bağları. You won't find this wine on the order list as it's one of two made really just for the local market but since we were there and being locals for the afternoon we bought a bottle. After a long day of driving and exploring we retired early to our hotel with some pide and Chamlija wines.

The Karıştıran Bağları is a 2015 blend of Pinot Noirs. In the nose there were a lot of black fruits like plum and blueberry as well as nail polish and maybe some gun smoke. It was slightly effervescent when we first took out the cork but as the wine opened and warmed up (we'd put in the fridge since "room temperature" that day was 38!) it smoothed out and the fizziness dissipated. No tannins or finish to speak of this was definitely the local wine-but it was fun to try!

Several cuts above the local wine was the 2015 Blanc de Noirs. A white wine made with Papaskarası (i.e. red) grapes, this was truly gorgeous. Go out and buy this now. Like right now.

Pale clear yellow in the glass it had a delicate citrus and tropical nose with possibly some floral elements. On the palate it was clean with some lively acid, an excellent finish, and flavors of peaches, tropical fruits, and lemon. Too easy to drink; this Blanc De Noirs by Chamlija definitely gets tagged as being #dangerouslydrinkable.

Day one in Edirne was a success! During day two we'll visit more mosques, attempt to round out our religious experience with a church and a synagogue, and visit a boutique winery!

Turkish Wine of the Week - Arcadia 2012 Gri

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:00:00 +0000

I bought this a little hesitantly since I had bad luck with Arcadia's Sauvignon Gris but my friends at Solera promised me it would be good and they have yet to steer me wrong. And I'll give another chance to anyone who uses peacocks on all its labels. At I think only 75 TL (minus the 25% take away discount) this one isn't cheap, but it won't break the bank.

Brilliant pale gold in the glass at least this Arcadia was starting off on a pretty foot. The nose was also quite lovely with white flowers, melon, and tropical notes with an underlying sweetness (probably the flowers). On the palate it was all zesty acid and citrus with tropical notes and more flowers.

The guys at Solera are rarely wrong, I did indeed like this one. This could pair very well with food but was also quite enjoyable on its own. I'm not waxing poetic as I often do for the red wines, but more white wines like this and the Kayra Viognier and I might stop drinking white wines only in the summer.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Amadeus MMX 2015 Gelber Muskateller

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 11:40:00 +0000

What is Gelber Muskateller? you ask. It's Muscat, or technically yellow Muscat. How is that different from any of the other Muscats I've reviewed? It's not really, it's the same grape. It just happens to be one of the German names (there are unbelievably almost 300 variations on the grape name!).

German white wines like Riesling and Gewürztramiener often get a bad rap as being syrupy sweet dessert wines when really that's not the case. German and Alsace Riesling, Gewürztramiener, and Muscat wines are usually produced as dry wines, not sweet. While Austrians tend to grow more of their native Grüner Veltliner, they also produce dry Riesling, Gewürztramiene, and Muscat. I assume that Amadeus chose to name the wine after the German name for the grape since they produced it in much the same manner as would the Germans and Austrians.

To be honest I was more than a little hesitant to buy this even though it was only 45 TL. I've had a bad Amadeus experience before which made me a little gun shy and the guys at the Cave are pushing this one hard. They do annoy me a bit sometimes. If I ask for a recommendation please give me one, but if I go in an tell you that I know exactly what I'm looking for and I want only those specific wines, stop trying fob other wines off on me.

Rant aside, honestly this wasn't too bad. At 14.5% it has a rather high alcohol content for a white wine but made for some beautiful legs in the glass as I swirled the bright gold wine. The nose was very tropical with floral, possibly honeycomb tones. It also felt really good in the mouth with a nice mouthwatering acid to balance the sweetness coming from the high alcohol and a smooth, clean, medium finish that carried through the aromas from the nose.

Honestly this was a lot nicer than I was expecting considering my reluctance to purchase Amadeus wines in general and the less than suave, beat you over the head with the wine bottle sales tactic from the guys at the Cave. I think I need to give Amadeus wines another try.

First Bulgaria Disinfected Me then Infused Me with Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:20:00 +0000

I almost don't even know where to begin with this. E and I set off on what was to be a relaxing weekend break at a winery spa in Bulgaria-it turned out to be something rather different.

We left early so we could pick up our rental car at the airport and get the four-hour drive out of the way; unfortunately the travel troubles began right away. Enterprise's system was down ("system problem" are words we often hear in Turkey) so despite arriving at their service counter before 9AM it wasn't until 11 that we were finally on the road. With no traffic barring our way the drive through Turkey went smoothly and the border was upon us long before we even thought to expect it. Three check points later we were out of Turkey and entering the no man's land between it and Bulgaria.

That's where the trouble really began.

The 'green card' "office"

Approaching the first check point our car was unexpectedly sprayed with very chlorinated smelling water. I laughed and asked if we'd just been disinfected. Surely not, said E...but true enough there was a little booth just ahead labeled "disinfection fee collection point" where we were charged the cost of 3 Euros for apparently having Turkey cleaned off our car. Really thank goodness for that because it set a tone of ludicrousness without which we may have committed murder over the next two hours. After paying for our disinfection we pulled into a scrum of vehicles all attempting to cross the border into Bulgaria. In a space of maybe a square half mile were packed so many cars we couldn't even attempt to count them. Tempers were high, horns honked on an off, cars didn't inch forward...they centimetered forward. Suddenly we had so much time on our hands so we turned to Google to discover why everything was at a stand still. Apparently the Turkey-Bulgaria crossing is the second busiest land crossing in the world! That would have been good information to have before we left.

Todoroff complex

Two hours later, TWO HOURS LATER it was finally our turn. We handed over our passports, the car insurance, and the car rental contract but were absolutely flummoxed when asked for the "green card". Apparently saying words louder and more slowly is not just something English speakers do to foreigners because apparently shouting and over enunciating GREEN CARD at us was going to make us understand the Bulgarian border guard. Eventually someone with some English came over and instructed us to drive through the check point (while they held onto our passports) to "the last car and my colleague will help". Okay then. We drove through and parked by the final check point and asked everyone we saw "green card"? until we were directed to a small shack sitting just outside the border crossing area, where a woman sold us Bulgarian car insurance for 50 Euros. The green card.

We drove back to the original check point (no cars at all on this side of things!), parked, and walked to the booth where our passports were being held hostage. Being in the thick of things as we were it was easy to see why it was taking so long for each car to cross the border. After passport (and green card) inspection, the one customs officer shared by two lanes would poke through a car's trunk, rummage through luggage, and then pop the hood for a mechanical inspection. Every. Single. Car. We were spared this process after finally being able to provide the much-desired green card, given back our passports, and sent on our way.

Wine-infused jacuzzi!

Finally free to go we drove through the final final check point, slightly afraid we were going to be stopped and asked for another color card, we drove into Bulgaria-where there was no traffic. None. All those cars that got across the border before us were nowhere to be seen; it was very odd. About 100 kilometers in we stopped for gas. We probably could have got all the way to the spa without filling up but after 2.5 hours of running the AC while sitting in the hot afternoon sun we needed to fill up. Then began the next adventure of actually finding the spa. I don't know about other countries, but Bulgaria doesn't mark streets that have names like 'route 8602'. My Russian might be crap now but thank goodness I can still read Cyrillic because I was able to recognize the name of our destination village (Brestovitsa) and guide E to the correct street. Of course actually finding the spa in Brestovitsa was a whole different story. We had to stop and ask three or four different people being slightly hindered by neither of us being able to speak Bulgarian and me trying to speak to Bulgarians in Turkish.

Finally we arrived at Todoroff Winery and Spa. Sadly it was too late to take advantage of the spa or even join their tour/wine tasting. We were both so exhausted though-it had been 10 hours since we left home that morning-that we were happy to just have dinner and a bottle of wine and sleep early.

The next morning after breakfast we booked spa treatments for the next two days and while we waited for our appointment we sat outside in the cool Bulgarian country air playing with the sweetest kitten. From there E and I luxuriated for about an hour in Todoroff's Barrique Tub-a jacuzzi infused with bath salts and wine, actual wine, while also enjoying glasses of wine. We felt kind of bad because no matter how hard we tried to prevent it, the jacuzzi bubbled away so enthusiastically that the water ended up all over the floor. After pickling in the wine we each had body scrubs with grapes seeds/must (Cabernet Sauvignon!) and massages.

Processing the grapes

Bottling room

Fully relaxed, we lazed away the afternoon with spa treatments and naps until our tour of the Todoroff winery. The original winery was established in 1945 but nationalized in 1947. It was returned to the original family in the late 90s and bought and modernized by Ivan Todoroff in 2001. The winery produces wines made mostly from the same ubiquitous grapes everyone grows but they do also produce some very nice wine from the native Bulgarian grape, Mavrud.

Unfortunately it seems that many of the native Bulgarian grapes have been lost so Todoroff specializes in Mavrud, Cabernet Sauvignon, and the dreaded Merlot. Our guide told us that there are many traditional songs in Bulgaria about red wine and only one about white-which includes a line that goes something like: "Oh white wine, why aren't you red?" Love it.

In addition to making wine, Mr. Todoroff is also dedicated to supporting local artists and for several years has been running art competitions. Winners' works are displayed in the Todoroff tasting room and used for the wines' labels. The hotel itself is something of an art gallery with each floor also displaying the work of local artists, all of which are available for purchase.

We tasted five wines during the tasting: 2015 Boutique Rainbow Silver, 2015 Boutique Mavrud, 2013 Gallery Merlot, 2013 Gallery Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2013 Teres Merlot.

The Todoroff Boutique line is not oaked which made me very happy as the 2015 Boutique Rainbow Silver is a Chardonnay blend: Chardonnay, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc. In the glass it's nearly colorless, clear, and brilliant. The nose is tropical with melon, green apples, and floral notes. In the mouth it's soft with good acid and lots of that green apple. For such a light white wine I was surprised by how well it paired with a strong, salty cheese. It was really quite nice.

The 2015 Boutique Mavrud was by far my favorite of what we tasted. Brestovitsa, where Todoroff is, is located in the Plovdiv region of Bulgaria's Thracian region. Mavrud is native to this area and while it's one of the few native grapes left it accounts for only 1.5% of grapes grown. Which to me is very sad because this was very much my favorite. Also aged in stainless steel, it was a bright purple-red color with a light-medium body. On the nose it was blueberry, floral, candy and the palate was very light tannins, well-balanced acid and more berry, candy, and honey flavors.

Up next was the 2013 Gallery Merlot (the line of Todoroff wines that feature the art competition winners). The Gallery-line wines spend four to six months in oak depending on the age of the barrel and there were definitely some light oak features in the wine with some smoke and vanilla in the nose. In the glass it was a brick red with medium clarity (sediment). The palate was very jammy with dried fruits especially prunes, smoke, vanilla, and oak with some light tannins and a medium finish.

The 2013 Gallery Cabernet Sauvignon was similarly treated with four to six months of oak. Todoroff uses their barrels (French, American, and Bulgarian oak) for only three years, a surprisingly short amount of time, before the barrels are sold off. The Gallery Cabernet is a dark, ruby-red in the glass with dark fruits and black olives in the nose. On the palate it's a medium body with nice, round tannins, integrated acid, and a medium finish with flavors reflecting the nose. It was nice...but there are Turkish Cabernets that are way better.

The last wine we tasted was the 2013 Teres Merlot which Todoroff is no longer selling. They have only a few bottles of their last Teres vintage left and they're saved for tastings. Although after the tasting E sweetly asked if it weren't possible for us to finish the bottle they opened for the tasting (it was!). E really liked this one, me not so much. The Teres line wines spend eight to 10 months in the barrels which for the Merlot resulted in a deep brownish-brick red, medium body wine. The nose was very heavy dried fruits: raisins and prunes, along with smoke, vanilla, and baking spices. So-like a fruitcake that has spent some time in a smokehouse. It was quite similar to the Gallery Merlot in that the flavors were very jammy and while unquestionably a dry wine it had some very viscous, sweet flavors.

Roman amphitheater

Old city

Our last morning at Todoroff I had my last spa treatment: the Wine Mascarpone. After getting exfoliated again with grape seeds, I was slathered with a mask made out of wine and powdered milk, wrapped up in plastic and heavy blankets, and then the bed I was on turned into some sort of hot waterbed that filled up around me wrapping me in a waterbed burrito. It was pretty fantastic.

Old city-traditional painted Bulgarian building

Roman theatre-still used for events!

After my last spa treatment we packed up the rental car and headed into Plovdiv-Bulgaria's second largest city and one of the oldest, continuously inhabited cities in the world. Plovdiv is lovely and well worth the visit. The modern city, old city, and ancient ruins are all well integrated and, throwing in bright street art, make for a charming city. The Roman theatre is still used for concerts and events and the amphitheater has been cleverly built around to incorporate it into the pedestrian area of the city.

Plovdiv is full of museums and art galleries so E was in heaven. I was in heaven because the food was amazing. We had lunch at Pavaj, a trendy, hip little restaurant that served up killer barbeque pork ribs.

Getting back to Turkey was not as complicated as getting out, but we had a few bumps. Getting out of Plovdiv was one of them! A few wrong turns though and we found the rounds we needed. As long as we were going the opposite direction of Sophia we were fine and eventually we came upon signs directing us to Istanbul.

Not only we were worried about another two-hour delay but we realized that we were driving into Turkey with 11 bottles of wine. Why we didn't think to take them out of the winery boxes and put them in our bags I don't know; because we both knew better than to try this. Sure enough, while the crossing out of Bulgaria took no time at all, we were stopped at the Turkish border. The customs officer said we were only allowed one liter per person (which can't be right-you're allowed so much more flying in!). However a little stumbling Turkish about how we were on a girls' weekend; isn't there a fee/tax we can pay (the to you implied); and a little flirting later and we, and our 11 bottles, were allowed to cross. Sometimes it's good to be female in Turkey!

While our spa weekend getaway turned out to be a little more adventurous than I had planned it was a great trip! We were disinfected, infused with wine, got to try Bulgarian wine, ate pork, looked at art, and flirted contraband into the country. All in all it was a pretty great trip!

Turkish Wine of the Week - Sevilen 2010 Fume Blanc 900

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 14:22:00 +0000

I have never had a Fume Blanc before and had to Google to remind myself what it even was. A Fume Blanc is basically just a Sauvignon Blanc that has spent some significant time in oak. The process and name were popularized by Robert Mondavi of all people in the 60s or 70s. This particular bottle I found at Solera, no shock there. When they told me that it had been sitting on the shelf for three years, was the only one they had, and was in fact so forgotten that they didn't even know how much it cost I simply had to have it. And since they didn't know how much it cost they made up a price on the spot for me (67.50 TL with the discount).

Often when I buy wine it sits on shelf forever until I get around to drinking it. What I'm drinking as I type I bought a month ago at least.This one I opened almost immediately because I was so curious. In the glass it's a beautiful, intense gold; pretty much the same color as the label. After having spent 10 months in oak and a few years in the bottle I would expect no less.

I really have no idea what was going on in the nose. This wine drove me nuts. I had three different friends try it, two of whom thought the bottle had gone off until they got used to the intense aromas. It definitely had not gone off but for the life of me I have no idea regarding the aromas or flavors. Smokey for sure, some citrus maybe? It's a big, full-bodied white with a long finish, low acid, and really creamy texture.

I have no idea if I liked this or not. It was my first Fume Blanc so I did not know what to expect. I now have another in my refrigerator and want to give that a try soon. I noticed that the Cave has the 2009 and I'm curious to try it...or at least ask how much it is! For the first time I have no conclusion one way or the other about a wine but I am curious to study this style more.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Bozcaada Part 2 and Amadeus 2013 Cuvee and Cabernet

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 17:24:00 +0000

On our second day on Bozcaada we shared a fantastic Turkish breakfast with our hosts that included products from the island and their own gardens as well my new obsession: tomato jam. But tomato jam Turkish style which means they were whole, kind of candied tomatoes in sugar syrup.Apparently they're soaked in lye to give them their crunchy texture?

Follow our hosts on social media!

After breakfast we headed for our first wine adventure of the day-to the Amadeus Winery. Amadeus is owned by an Austrian man who grew up in Turkey who turned a family hobby into a business. I was very luckily to be able to talk to the owner for a while about his philosophy behind wine making and the processes he uses. At Amadeus they do not age wine in oak. Partially because of the expense-barrels are not cheap but also because while oak imparts flavor components to wine, it also
takes away some of the natural flavors of the fruit. At Amadeus they prefer wines that are more fruit forward so at most they use wood chips in some of their wines.

Amadeus Vinothek on Bozcaada

From Amadeus we headed into town. Bozcaada reminds me a lot of Mykonos which, given the historic Greek population, isn't really surprising. The town is separated into two parts, the part that used to be all Greek and the part that used to be all Turkish. The Turkish side is organized typically, in that it's not; streets and buildings are laid out all higgledy-piggledy. The Greek side in contrast is laid out in very precise grids (however only because that side of town was lost in a fire and a visiting American made a city plan for them).

In our wanderings around town we ended up at Talay, the owners of the vineyard we hiked through the previous day. Talay produces a pretty wide range of wines but I'd never heard of them before. Since my trip I've noticed one or two bottles at La Cave but Talay is not a widely known name. They have a very laid-back island attitude in regards to advertising: people who we know who we are will drink Talay. Happily I was there on the island to try some of them. I went away with a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon because it took me a full 10 minutes to figure out the (to me) most outstanding flavor: green pepper. I can't believe it took me that long to put my finger on what it was but I have never had a Cabernet with such a clear green flavor like that.

After our visit to Talay it was back to Lavender Breeze Farm where I was put through my paces on a blind tasting of the house wines. I had two tasks:

1. Identify which was the Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon
2. Match them to three other glasses of Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon

I failed miserably. Miserably!! To be fair even my host seemed a little confused as to which was which. In any case there was a lot of laughter and fun. I need to start practicing this skill at home!

You would think that I would really love a wine maker who generally does not use oak and who lives by the fantastic motto of "Life is a Cabernet" would be one of my favorite makers-unfortunately not so. I've had a very up and down relationship with Amadeus and while I thought I liked a couple of their wines well enough to buy them and haul them home, I think I might have been partially under an island influence, making me perceive them more favorably than I normally would.

Quite some time ago I tried the Amadeus 2012 Cuvee and really did not like. Really did not like it a lot. And yet while at Amadeus I rather did like the 2015. Did I like it as much when I got it home and was no longer under a possible situational influence?

I actually rather did. I mean I only paid 30 TL for the bottle directly from Amadeus and I think it's a decent 30 TL bottle. Would I have liked it if I'd paid twice or more that amount at a shop in Istanbul? No.

The Cuvee Rouge is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. In addition to not aging wines in oak, Amadeus also doesn't filter its wine (again in order to keep as much of the fruit flavor as possible) but despite that the wine was a nice, clear red-no cloudiness. In the nose it was very dark cherries, cacoa, vanilla, and coffee. On the palate it's a medium-bodied wine with some soft tannins. Lots of red fruit and coffee flavors with a slightly sweet undertone from the vanilla. It went very nicely with strong Turkish cheeses.

The 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (also 30 TL directly from Amadeus) was also a decent wine for 30 TL. Like the Cuvee Rouge it's a medium-bodied wine, so it's not your typical big, full Cab.

There's lots of heavy spices in the nose including green peppercorn and I think some jalapeno. Once you get past that you're treated to both black and dried fruits like prune and a little baking spice from the oak chips used in the aging. On the palate smooth tannins accentuate the fruit and pepper flavors giving you a pretty decent drinking experience. Although like the Cuvee Rouge-a decent 30 TL drinking experience.

Turkish Breakfast Review - Saade Kahvaltı

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 05:58:00 +0000

I read about Saade Kahvaltı in the August issue of Time Out Istanbul. Ever on the lookout for a new breakfast place, I made a date with R for breakfast last Saturday. Saade Kahvaltı is located at the Darussaade Hotel in Sultanahmet near the Arasta Bazaar.

Because it doesn't seem possible for to provide full/helpful information on Turkish websites, nowhere on the hotel website or Time Out article listed Saade Kahvaltı opening times, reservation needs etc. So we went on the information provided on Zomato.com - which turned out to be wrong. According to Zomato Saade opens at 10:00 (nope, it's at 11:00) and they do not take reservations (incorrect-reservations required). However because we'd trekked there, getting lost several times, the lovely staff arranged for us to have the breakfast in their ground floor cafe while they set up the terrace.

We followed some very bad Google Map directions, getting lost at least three times before we found Darussaade Hotel but it was entirely worth the trek. So much so that R and I, this time accompanied by E&M, made a reservation and went back the next weekend.

The price is a little steep at 40 TL/person (not including drinks or extras like eggs) but for what you get it's a fantastic value. All of Saade's products are organic and come from across Turkey. Many things, like the cheese blended with nuts and herbs and cheese blended with peppers are made in house. Everything is incredibly fresh and delicious. The tomato paste is some of the best I've ever had, the Tulum cheese is sharp and delicious, and even I, raw tomato-hater that I am, fought over the fresh tomato and pumpkin seed salad.

My personal favorite dish is the soft white cheese topped with diced plums. The sweet-tangy combination is gorgeous. Even the seemingly never ending fresh bread was some of the best we've ever had at a Turkish breakfast cafe.

It was much easier to find Saade the second time around as they kindly sent me directions on What's App that were easy to follow. Basically, if you're facing the Blue Mosque, go down the road [that runs in front of the mosque] to the left. Turn right in front of the Blue House Hotel, then the first left, then the first right. At the end of that street you'll see the pale purple Darussaade Hotel.

E said she thinks this is hands down the best Turkish breakfast she's had here. I don't think she's wrong. The food alone was amazing but coupled with the terrace view overlooking the Bosphorus on one side and the iconic Blue Mosque on the other...yes. We will go back to this place and take everyone. Saade Kahvaltı is not to be missed.

Saadde Kahvaltı (make a reservation!)
Darussaade Hotel
Sultanahmet Mahallesi
Akbıyık Caddesi 90
+90 212 518 3636

Photo Walk: Gülhane to Karaköy

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 08:36:00 +0000

On Sunday I joined another photo walk run by Yas at the Istanbul Language Exchange Club. On the last walk I joined I discovered an area of the city I'd never even been to; this time I discovered hidden gems in areas I thought I new pretty well. I guess I was wrong!

We started our walk at the Gülhane tram stop, circling around the back of the Istanbul Governate to find the Hacı Beşirağa Camii. Built in 1745 this "new" mosque (new is a relative term in Turkey!) was quite different from any other mosque I've visited. For one thing, the women-only section is not only in the balcony but it has it's own entrance from outside the mosque. As our guide Yas pointed out I was lucky here as the balcony gave me better photo opportunities. The mosque is also decorated solely in shades of black and grey. My pictures look like they're black and white but I didn't use any filters-that's just what it looks like!

Privately-owned Byzantine cistern

Private prayer room for office workers

A twisty-turny walk that I likely couldn't replicate brought us to the Rustem Pasa Madrasa. Madrasas were outlawed in the 20s and while I think now some are reopening, many-like the Rustem Pasa Madrasa-are used as cultural centers where people can take classes in ebru (paper marbling), cooking, music, language, etc.

Syrian-style mosque & minaret

From there we continued our journey through the streets above Eminonu and down one of the many small side streets to peek into a barred window onto a privately owned Byzantine-era cistern. This would-be fantastic historic find is being used, for all things, as a private storage/junk container. Sigh.

Empty Eminonu streets

Europe's two sides viewed from Halic

Our wanderings took us to Eminonu where we pushed our way through the throngs along the Bosphorus and the balik emkmek boats to see the remains of a Roman tower. Once part of the city wall it was used as a dungeon and now houses the tombs of famous Muslim martyrs-including the originator of the name Ali Baba.

A view of Galata

In order to cross over to Karaköy we continued on foot towards Halic and crossed the Halic Metro Bridge on foot, taking advantage of the fantastic views of the European side of Istanbul. Once on the other side we came immediately upon a short section of wall. During the Ottoman Empire, the Genoese had control of much of the area that is now Karaköy, Galata, Beyoglu and surrounded it with their own wall.

Part of the old Genoese wall

Larger section of the Genoese wall

We crossed the main road that runs along the water Turkish-style playing chicken with traffic on both sides of the boulevard in order to follow the metro bridge up a blind alley. There we discovered a larger section of the Genoese wall complete with tower and the last remaining gate-the Burning Gate.

The Burning Gate in the Genoese wall

Passing through the gate we next made our way to the Arap Camii, or Arab Mosque. I've heard of this one but I've never been. I'm not even sure I could find it again, tucked away as it is in the depths of Karaköy. There are several stories attached to this mosque and I leave it to you to decide which you believe. The story on the mosque's information board says that it was built in 715, making it old even by Istanbul's standards and was converted to a Roman Catholic Church in the 14th Century when the bell tower (now minaret) was added and converted back to a mosque some hundred years later. If that is true then I think it is probably the only edifice in Turkey ever to have started as a mosque and then become a Christian church!

However, if you choose to believe Wikipedia, then the story is somewhat different. According to that website, "tradition has it" that there was once a mosque built on the site, as well as an earlier chapel dedicated to Saint Irene, followed by a replacement chapel dedicated to Saint Paul, and finally the current structure consecrated in 1325 which fell to the Ottomans and was converted to a mosque around 1475. Whatever its history, it's a beautiful building and the calm of the courtyard is a balm in the midst of the craziness of Karaköy.

Our wanderings then took us through the area of Karaköy around the old fish market that was unceremoniously, and once could argue cruelly, knocked down last year. Being so close to the fish market and warf it's no surprise that shops in this area are full of boat and fishing gear. In front of several shops reposed piles of anchors or all shapes and sizes.

We ended our walk at the new fish market (far less preferable to the old) after discovering hidden gems tucked away in what we thought was an already familiar part of the city with nothing left to discover. I'm hoping now that the weather seems to be getting cooler I'll be up for joining more of Yas's walks to learn about other sections of beautiful Istanbul!

Turkish Wine of the Weeks - Visiting Bozcaada and Corvus 2012 Vinium

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:21:00 +0000

My adventure at Suvla was only a small part of my recent trip. I was invited with my friend T to visit some friends of hers (happily now also of mine) at their beautiful home, Lavender Breeze Farm on the island of Bozcaada.

We were invited to stay in The Priest's House, a beautiful house they've rebuilt on their property which they rent out on AirBnB (check out the link!). Look at these rooms! T and I were prepared to stay forever.

I found it a very unique house in that the living room/kitchen and both bedrooms were independent of each other. Both bedrooms have their own en suite bathroom and independent entrances out onto the porch.

And did I mention that the porch overlooks some of their vineyards?

With our hosts at Lavender Breeze Farm I had the opportunity to learn about traditional vine growing on Bozcaada. Grapes have been growing on Bozcaada since just about forever. Also known by its Greek name, Tenedos, Bozcaada is in the northeastern part of the Aegean near the entrance to the Dardanelles. Not only does it have a long history, it's firmly rooted in mythology and classical Greek literature, making an appearance in both Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid.

Traditional island 'goblet' vine style

Traditional island Cavus grapes

Grapes have been growing here for about that long and while none of the vines can lay claim to that much history, if Bozcaada wine makers were to talk about 'old vine' wines (which sadly isn't a trend in Turkish wine making) they would certainly have bragging rights with vines aged 40, 50, even 100+ years old.

Many vines are trellised trained now but some vineyards, like Lavender Breeze Farm and Talay still use the traditional island goblet style in which vines are not attached to trellises but two to three cordons (i.e. branches) are trained to grow out and up from the trunk in such a way as to resemble a goblet.

A day spent among the vines wouldn't be complete without a tasting! While I didn't have the chance to visit the Corvus vineyard we did stop in at the winery's restaurant for a tasting. Corvus, which is Latin for 'crow', was named for the many crows that make the island their home. They're more numerous than the people I think. Due to the owner's clever marketing, Corvus is a very popular wine brand here in Turkey; its never been my favorite but I enjoyed the opportunity to try several of their wines I wouldn't normally have bought.

And of course we couldn't go to Bozcaada and not enjoy the beach! We took a break from hiking through vineyards and wine tasting to relax on one of Bozcaada's beaches. Even though it was about 38C during our entire visit it luckily never felt that hot, not even on the beach, because there are such strong winds on the island. So while I did not take a swim I was able to stay cool and relaxed under the shade with my book.

As it happens, one of the wines I tasted at Corvus Wine & Bite on Bozcaada I have had on my wine rack since forever. So when I got home from my island getaway I opened it right up.

The Vinium is made from Karalahana which is a native Turkish grape and if you can find any information about it online please let me know because I for sure couldn't. In the glass it's an opaque cherry red indicating a medium bodied wine. The nose was very fruit forward with red fruits, particularly cherry, and I think some oaky elements. On the palate there were noticeable tannins, unfortunately they didn't stick around to be appreciated. It has a short, dry finish with lots of juicy, tart cherry flavors.

Not bad, not my favorite.

More on my short Bozcaada adventure and the wines I discovered there coming soon!

Turkish Breakfast Review - Kahvedan

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 06:51:00 +0000

Today we're having breakfast at one of my favorite Cihangir restaurants - Kahvedan. I'm sorry to say that right from the out I was a little disappointed.

Kahvedan features a very extensive menu that includes typical Turkish dishes as well as pretty decent falafel, pad thai, and pork chops. Yes, pork chops. The breakfast options are also quite extensive offering traditional Turkish breakfast plates, a variety of eggs, pancakes, and toasts. And there's bacon.

My friend R and I both went for bacon options, naturally with home getting bacon sahanda (fried eggs) and me taking a chance on yet another restaurant's eggs Benedict. What is my obsession with eggs Benedict? I don't really know but if its on a breakfast menu I invariably order it.

For a Sunday afternoon Kahvedan wasn't overly busy. Most of the outdoor tables were full but there were only maybe one or two tables filled inside. So why did we have to wait so long for our eggs? My eggs were actually slightly less than warm. I considered sending them back but it took so long to get them to begin with that I decided against it. I wonder if sending them back would have resulted in them being better or worse than they were? The English Muffins under the eggs were so touch and obviously stale that I had a hard time cutting them with a knife. I had to deconstruct the Benedict a little so the yolks could soak into the bread in hopes of softening it a little (didn't work).

For all that, the eggs Benedict still tasted pretty good and R was happy with his eggs and bacon as well. Considering how good all my other experiences at Kahvedan have been I choose to view this as a fluke. Everyone gets and off day, right? And Kahvedan still has the best damn mint lemonade (I've found) in Istanbul.

Overall I heartily recommend Kahvedan for any meal of the day. If you go for lunch or dinner though get the Çökertme - trust me, you'll thank me!

Kahvedan
Akarsu Caddesi No 38
Cihangir, Beyoğlu
Istanbul

Turkish Wine of the Week - Arcadia 2012 Pinot Gris

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 12:11:00 +0000

Recently I let the guys at La Cave talk me into another bottle of wine. I do need more whites now that summer is on and at only 49 TL I wasn't risking too much with this one. Plus I liked the art work. I'm not usually a huge fan of Pinot Gris. Like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, also known as Pinot Grigio, wines have a wide range of flavors depending on whether they were grown in cool climates (Italy and most of the USA/Australia) or warm climates (the Alsace, France, Turkey). And as with Sauvignon Blanc I prefer the warmer climate "riper" styles but usually as a food wine.

Arcadia's 2012 Pinot Gris is a pretty nice example of a warmer climate style and given the price is actually a great bargain if you like this style of wine. While I was largely pleased with the flavor, again for me it was a food wine and my over all experience with this was enhanced a great deal by accompanying it with one of my favorite summer foods: chicken salad with red grapes and walnuts.

In the glass this estate-bottled Arcadia 2012 Pinot Gris is a beautiful gold color. For this particular wine, Arcadia uses limited filtration so there was some sediment in the glass-something I had not before encountered in a white wine. The nose was very citrusy which also came through on the palate-citrus, melon, honey, and a bit of something from the oak but I couldn't quite identify that. Like a cooler-climate Italian-style Pinot Gris, I also detected some minerality at the end of the finish. It seemed fairly high in acid, in fact that was my very first impression, but it smoothed out a little.

To be honest I liked this more than I thought I would and for only 49TL it's not a bad white to have on hand. However for me it was definitely a food wine and it definitely needed to be served quite cold.

Turkish Wine of the Week - A Visit to Suvla!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 12:58:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to spend time on Bozcaada and was able to visit Suvla in Ecebat while I was there so I thought I'd roll a post about that into a couple reviews.

First of all, I wish I'd realized years ago how easy it is to get to Suvla. The main reason I don't visit Turkish wineries is because I don't drive and it's not like they're exactly conveniently located. Suvla, in Eceabat, is a short ferry ride away from Canakkale which in turn is serviced by a daily flight out of Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul. Had I but known!

Walking into Suvla was a little, as my friend put it, like arriving at the mother ship. The Suvla store in Ecebat is gorgeous. I approached the wine filled walls like an eager kid in a candy shop wishing I could take a little of everything with me. Thanks to Nusret in the Cihangir Suvla shop we were armed with the name of someone to help us during out visit. Unfortunately after arriving we learned that was her day off! However as proof of how fantastic Suvla is, someone called her and Ecem very kindly came in to provide us with some VIP treatment!

First we had a tour of the factory with one of Suvla's new wine makers, Hıkmet. He toured us through the factory showing us the grape presses and fermentation tanks (I particularly liked the Dalek-shaped tank in the back) answering my pesty questions all the while. Then he took us into the barrel storage room, a blessedly cool contrast to Eceabat's 38C heat! Suvla uses oak from France, America, and Hungary I believe he said and the barrels are used for five or so wines before being retired.

Of course we couldn't be at the home of Suvla and not do some wine tasting! Unfortunately Turkish laws have made it difficult, if not downright impossible, for wineries and shops to provide tastings free of charge, however the Suvla restaurant offers a long list of flights for tasting at reasonable prices as well tastings by the glass. T and I got two different red flights, one from Suvla's mid priced range of wines and one from the higher end. While I was not surprised that we both loved the Petit Verdot-Karasakız blend; I was shocked, and not a small amount horrified, that I actually kind of liked the (2014) Merlot!

After our tasting and tour of the şaraphane, we refreshed ourselves with a coffee break before heading out for a tour of the vineyards with Suvla's Australian viticulturist, Mark.

red globe table grapes

I suppose it's possible that I could have been more excited by this, but not a whole lot. The first thing I learned which was very different for me was that wineries in Turkey don't own large tracts of land where all the grapes are planted. They have bits of land here and there which enable them to plant different grapes in different types of soils and conditions. As a result, driving between the various Suvla plots we also passed a few individually owned farm plots as well as some of Doluca's vineyards.

Sad stressed grapes

Suvla plants more than just wine grapes in its vineyards. They also have large sections dedicated to different table grapes that are used in workers' lunches and farm plots where they grow ingredients for the restaurant and the Kilye line of oils, jams, preserves, etc they produce and sell. Mark stopped often so we could roll out of his Range Rover to get an up close view of the various grapes and so I could pester him with questions about canopies, soil types, drainage, grafting, root stock, and harvesting. We also used the stops as opportunities to try the various grapes. A regular grape will never taste as amazing as will a sun-warmed grape plucked from the bunch on the vine.

A young vine grafted onto American rootstock

Looking over Suvla's vineyards

After a few hours in the vineyards Mark asked if we'd ever been to Gallipoli and seen the war memorials there. T has been but I'd never been to this part of Turkey at all so he very kindly offered to drive us around on a tour of the area.

Ari Burnu Cemetery

While most of the graves in the Ari Burnu cemetery face the sea, three graves belonging to British Indian Muslim soldiers have their headstones pointing towards Mecca.

Atatürk's 'Johnnies and Mehmets' speech memorial at Anzac Cove

Find Atatürk's iconic speech here.

Kemekli (bone) beach

As an American the battles at Gallipoli and along the coast now known as Kemekli Beach hold less significance. In fact I dare say that we mostly know it as the unpronounceable Mel Gibson movie. However for the allied armies, particularly Australia and New Zealand, it was an unwinnable blood bath into which Winston Churchill pushed soldiers even while knowing he couldn't win. Significantly for Turkey, it's also where a young officer names Mustafa Kemal would distinguish himself and what would begin his path to becoming the father of modern Turkey.

We cannot end this on a melancholy note and of course there must be more wine! So let's talk about two of Suvla's wines.

We'll begin with one that I bought a while ago at the shop in Cihangir. I keep trying the pink wines even though I really just can't get behind them. In the glass Suvla's 2015 Merlot-Karasakız Rose is the soft peachy-pink of a sunset. To me the nose was basically pink oak. I did however also get some summer berry and floral scents. On the palate it's dry with crisp acidity and a decent finish. Not a long one, but it stays with you. There are some nice raspberry and strawberry flavors which normally I love in a wine but the Merlotness of it overwhelmed me.

For 45TL this is not a bad investment and I really think the only reason I didn't like it is because I just really don't like the pink wines. However if you don't share my pink prejudice this would be perfect on a hot summer day!

While actually at Suvla I treated myself to two of the high-end wines that I normally wouldn't let myself buy in the shop. In fact I've managed to forget the cost of them both but suffice to say they're priced over 100TL/bottle. Really rather somewhat over actually. I am a sucker for Turkish Cabernet Sauvignon though and I really wanted to try Suvla's award-winning 2012 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Unless you have a disposable income far greater than my own, this is not an everyday wine but a special occasion wine. My special occasion happened to be last Tuesday when I made a particularly good truffled chicken and parmesan panino...

After 12 months in oak this gorgeous deep red Cabernet has a nose redolent with prunes, blackberry, cherry, chocolate, and tobacco. In the mouth the tannins are velvety and luscious and the wine has a long finish with more of those dark fruits, some coffee, and smokey flavors. Wow. If you're looking to treat yourself to a premium Turkish wine you can stop here. I might not have liked the rose but this one knocked my socks off. So much so that I'm actually letting that previous sentence end with a preposition.

Two years after I began my love affair with Suvla wines I finally visited the winery and it could not have been a more fantastic experience! Thank you to Suvla, expecially Nusret, Ecem, Hıkmet, and Mike for a fantastic day!

Turkish Breakfast Review - Limonlu Bahçe

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 08:49:00 +0000

It's been a while since I posted about breakfast in Istanbul. It takes a surprising amount of dedication to eat breakfast out once a week and since I'm really lazy and am usually not even rolling out of bed, let along looking presentable, until about lunch time it's a dedication I don't really have.

However recently I met up with a friend and former neighbor E at Limonlu Bahçe which is a local favorite and conveniently located just up the hill from my old apartment. The cafe gets its name from the lovely, partially enclosed garden filled with lemon trees. While the food can be a little hit or miss it's a lovely place to sit for a drink, enjoy the atmosphere, the omnipresent cats, and the garden's two turtles. Who also enjoy the garden-especially during mating season.

That's not what you want to eat breakfast next to!

Limonlu Bahçe has a pretty good selection of breakfast foods and you also have the choice between big or small plate breakfasts. E and I both went with the small plate option of yurmutalı ekmek (Turkish take on French Toast) with bal kaymak (honey and cream). It was definitely a better version of yurmutalı ekmek than what I previously had at Mavra Cafe. I could definitely have used a more generous portion of kaymak though.

Decent food, friendly service, and a great atmosphere - Limonlu Bahçe is worth a visit for any meal of the day!

Limonlu Bahçe
Yeni Çarşı Caddesi
Istanbul

Champagne Air and a Hipster Wine Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 09:32:00 +0000

After two years of trying I was finally able to visit my good friend D in Bad Homburg, Germany. Bad Homburg, a suburb of Frankfurt, is one of the wealthiest districts in Germany which is pretty clear in the town's slogan: Champagnerluft und Tradition (Champagne Air and Tradition).

Bad Homburg Schloss

I don't know about the champagne but the air really was lovely! When I'm in Istanbul I don't usually realize how poor the air quality is but nothing drove that home until the morning after I arrived and D took me on a tour of Bad Homburg and its many (many) parks. There are very few things I miss about country life but the smell of clean air, trees, and grass is one of them. Possibly the only thing actually. The parks in Bad Homburg are gorgeous.

Kaiser Wilhelm II spa

Bad Homburg became a popular spa town in the 19th century and, situated in one of the parks, is the Kaiser Wilheml II spa. The spa takes advantage of the natural mineral water deposits and throughout the park you can find different drinking fountains with plaques to tell you the mineral composition of the water and which ailments its good for. I sampled several of the waters and have to say I think I'd rather have the ailments. The spa was lovely though. It consists of various rooms that, like the water, have different elements and minerals to benefit one's health. My favorite was the hay steam room in which you sit in a hay-lined alcove, are covered with a paper sheet so only your head sticks out the top, and hot steam pours through the hay. I don't remember what this was good for but I giggled the entire 15 minutes because it reminded me of sweating during hay season. I think my dad should build one of these in Michigan and charge all the city people who board their horses in his neighborhood ridiculous amounts of money for hay steams.

Bad Homburg casino

Bad Homburg is also home to a casino, built apparently by the brother team responsible for the Monte Carlo casino. I've never been to Monte Carlo but I have to say this is the most sedate and German-looking casino I've ever seen. We went one evening, not to gamble but to dance in the small club on the top floor. It was better people watching than it was dancing owing to a really uneven performance by the DJ...but it was still great fun.

One afternoon D and her family took me to nearby Mainz where we spent an overcast morning wandering around the cobbled streets. The historic center of Mainz is everything you want in a German town: cobbled streets, half-timbered buildings, Roman ruins, and beautiful, old churches.

For the purposes of my visit the most important feature was the river that runs through Mainz, the Rhein. Mainz is situated in the Rheingau-one of Germany's most important wine regions. I don't know much about German wine outside of Riesling and Gewürtztramiener so I did some research before going. The most cultivated grapes in the Rheingau are: Riesling, Spätburgunder, Dornfelder, Grauer Burgunder, Kerner, Dunkelfelder, Chardonnay, Ehrenfelser, Müller-Thurgau, and Weiẞer Burgunder. I had the opportunity to try several of these and a few others at the Wine is in the Air festival.

Without a doubt this was the most hipster wine festival I'd ever been to but despite that it was great fun and I really enjoyed being able to try a whole mess of German wines I'd not only never tried but never heard of before; like the bottle of Zwitschern that I bought to take back to Turkey.

In a trip that involved nature and clean air, spas and hay steams, dancing til 3 AM, the most amazing truffle pasta ever, karaoke until 3 AM and then skipping through Bad Homburg barefoot, practicing my German with a seven year old, and a hipster wine festival it's difficult to choose a highlight. For me of course it was being able to hang out and do all these things with a good friend I hadn't seen in six years but even if you don't have such an amazing friend and host waiting for you, Bad Homburg is definitely worth a visit!

Turkish Wine of the Week - Anfora 2014 Kalecik Karası-Shiraz Blush

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea) — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 13:15:00 +0000

While I still approach pink wines warily I am more open to at least trying then than I used to be. That does not mean that I go out of my way to buy them. It's not even a matter of going out of my way really, a pink wine could be sitting right in front of my and the likelihood of me buying it is still pretty slim.

However I have recently started holding Turkish wine tastings; informal parties at my place for my friends where the only rules are that you must bring a wine that is Turkish and is not DLC. If you don't live here and you don't know what DLC is count yourself lucky. As one of the goals of the tasting is to try a wide spectrum of Turkish wines at least one pink wine should make the roster. At the inaugural meeting of Kitap Klübü Ezikler İçindir!* the pink wine was the Anfora 2014 Kalecik Karası-Shiraz Blush from Pamukkale.

Pale peachy pink in the glass the nose is very fruit forward with a lot of strawberries. On the palate it was off-dry with a subtle acidity and minerality. While I want to be diplomatic and say that while I don't see this particular blush bringing me any closer to being a fan of pink wines it wasn't bad...I just can't say that. I don't like pink wine-full stop. I have tried and as there are two more bottles in my fridge I will keep trying...but really just avoid this one.

I did not buy this so I cannot confidently say how much it was but my experience with Pamukkale wines said it was probably around 25TL and widely available at many of Turkey's grocery stores if you want a bottle of your very own despite my advice that don't.

*Book Club is for Suckers-you know if you've been in a book club the chances that you've actually read the book are slim because the group will talk about the book for maybe 5 minutes before delving into wine and gossip...we're skipping the books and going straight to the wine! We have T-Shirts.