Travaglini Gattinara 2011, Viinibloggaajat/Finnish Wine Bloggers Group Post

Photo by Alko

Well it has been such a long time we haven't done much together, so every now and then a group post is nice to see how we taste the same wine and how different we think about it. So the lucky wine is Travaglini Gattinara 2011 with 23,99€ bottle price (February 2017) and the method is that every wine blogger buys the wine, taste and publish their tasting note at the same day on social media. Here is my tasting note regardless of the producer or importing company (yes I paid that wine myself, no gift, no commercial deal).

FIRST IMPRESSION: The wine gives you what you paid, so for the price-quality ratio, it is a nice wine. But nothing surprising at all. One good thing is that it is from Gattinara, I get excited whenever I taste something from Piedmont that is Barolo or Barbaresco, but I get "double" excited whenever I taste something from Piedmont that is NOT Barolo or Barbaresco!

First bottle I bought was faulty. "Ethyl acetate" is the fault I thought about. I returned the bottle back to Alko and it was replaced with another bottle. Do not hesitate to return any bottle back to Alko if you think there is a clear fault or flaw!!!

Second bottle was fine.Here we go:

Transparent light red color with brown rims that reminds a developed red wine though it is only 6 years old, surprisingly early color change. First nose offers earthy notes with a touch of leather and slowly fruit comes to the scene. Supple and round in the mouth,offering cherry and currant aromas with a high acidity. Light bodied, tannins are slightly strong but integrated. The nose gets more and more fruitier all the time for the following 15-20 minutes. The final has moderate length under the effect of acidity, which is a good thing.

After 2 hours:

After two hours of proper decanting, the nose offers a more complex, almost "cooked fruit" aromas such as fig jam and plump jam. Acidity goes slightly down as no surprise, though still enjoyable. I would recommend the wine to be consumed chilled and with fish and seafood dishes, as well as light grilled meat with a nice light green salad next to it without any heavy dressing which will be needless for and against the beautiful, feminine/elegant structure of Nebbiolo, so just with olive oil dressing, might work well too. Or, a nice vegetarian dish, beetroots roasted and served with lentils and fresh herbs, mushroom risotto with a mix of mushrooms and topped with a reaaaally generous amount of parmesan, or as well as a chickpea patty would work well with this.

All in all, for the price quality, it is a normal good wine. Good for sure in the very very limited retail selection in Finland. Try to taste more producers from Gattinara (Az. Vit. Nervi for example)!

Few of the other bloggers that joined this group post which you can also read are:

https://viinihullu.blogspot.fi/

https://viinikartta.blogspot.fi/

http://copatinto.com/

http://viinikupla.com/

http://loppasuut.blogspot.fi/

http://wineserver.fi/

https://anna.fi/rypaleista-viis/

https://blottootto.wordpress.com

http://pullonhenki.blogspot.fi/


May your glass be filled with awesome undiscovered regions' wines! Greetings.

Craft Beer Tasting @Bier Bier in Helsinki by Viinitie

Some people are working on bringing new flavors in and for this reason we met in the craft beer bar Bier Bier on the first Monday of May after the people of Viinitie's call for it. Okay this is a business, okay they are looking for selling their products, because we all need to earn money, but in a country like Finland where the alcoholic beverage sales are strictly controlled and under the monopoly of the state, to focus on such specific area of business requires to be little bit crazy and I am proud my own craze and my crazy friends who are passionate about wine, premium beers, good whiskies and more. Please do it, dear friends, more please.

So, for all these related, Dominic Lombard, an Irish man from Spain who has got the title "Beer Sommelier" there, has gone with the wind in Helsinki and hopefully will be back with the wind soon. He is first of all a trained chef, which means he knows the food preparation methods and effects of different ingredients on the beverages, which is highly possible to give him a better understanding of food&beverage pairing, is the representative of some beer producers which we tasted that day and he gave us a presentation about the products and Spanish producers that he represents in Bier Bier, here surrounded by some professionals, some I know well, some I dont. Meanwhile we can learn more about Dominic by some words telling about him:

"Trained as a chef in Ireland and France working in several different restaurants up to 3 star Michelin and for U2 in their studio when they where recording the POP album. For health reasons had to stop and started working for a cheese importer distributor in Dublin buying over 250 different types of cheeses. Then working with wine for over 10 years, has WSET higher certificate (Ireland) and a Master in winemaking, viticulture and marketing of wine (Spain). His great grandfather, grandfather and father worked for Guinness so he has been from a very young age involved with beer working in pubs during holidays, weekends and running a Irish pub in Spain. Since 2013 he is working with young up and coming wine producers and craft brewers in Spain and in 2014 became the first Beer Academy Beer Sommelier in Spain and is now looking to study the USA equivalent cicerone certification."

When we started the tasting, first we talked about the drinking habits of the Spanish and what the young generation is looking for, as easy to guess, such a warm climate, people are mostly looking for a cold simple lager to cool down themselves sitting at the shadow. Flavorful craft beers which are more food-matched rather than drinking like water, are quite slowly coming to the scene. Dominic also talked about the Parkerized wines after the American wine critic Robert Parker, which brought out strong, almost over-matured tannic wines, Dominic pointed out that today same thing happening in beer which the hop is overused by some breweries. It is true that I really had so much beers that are really hard to drink, some not possible to enjoy at all. I like the taste of hop, yes, but too much is too much, that simple it is. But since the consumers re-discovered the cool-pronounced IPA -ay-piy-ey- hops become something people started to demand more and more, I personally think this is just a fashion that is coming and will for sure fade away.  

Anyway, we continued to talk during the tasting, about consumers, drinking habits to the philosophy of the beverages and food, then the first producer we went through that day was Dougall's, located in Santander, close to Bilbao, up very north of the Spanish peninsula, started commercial brewing in 2007. They exactly have some products that will make the usual Spanish consumer very happy, easy going yet nice to drink, fun, happy beers which some kind of a brewery's "hello" to the locals. Especially Dominic told that there is a big local cheese production in the area and one of Dougall's beers called Leyenda, I would love to try this beer with the local cheeses since I believe beer is a great match for cheese, the carbonization of the beer is the key to wash down the fat of the cheese. I even did a beer-cheese pairing workshop in Nomad Cellars, click to see photos from that event. Also with the oceanic shellfish dishes of the north Spain, Leyenda and Tres Mares beers would be something to try. More of that, with trying the beer Django with a barbecue steak, slightly burned surface yet juicy and fresh inside, it would be also very possible to search for the G-Point in our mouth. Mhhhmmm, yes baby right there, don't stop...

After that we went through a very interesting producer, "Mateo&Bernabe and friends" which is already interesting with their location, a wine kingdom of north, La Rioja. Sounds like from Game of Thrones. Again a man with a chef-background, Alberto Pacheco who went to Italy to learn more about brewing then started this brewery. They have these parking beers available in Finland by Viinitie,  Labelled B with a crab on it, C with a duck and A with a gorilla. quite interesting and delicious beers with high alcohol volumes, but their big bomb is actually a beer they called 29 Daniel made together as a collaboration with the Beancurd Turtle Brewery, made as the same principal as sherry, kept in wine barrels, a perfect match for desserts that are light on sugar, or some washed rind cheeses. I might be wrong. Hard to talk about certain pairings without trying it.

But definitely I got it as a mission to myself, I am a man of wine, but I will conduct this mission that I will make people to eat more cheese with beer because it might even match better than wine in some cases, I will, hopefully, in my own bar/restaurant/gastro pub someday or anywhere that I would be in charge, I will put more and more cheese and beer workshops that I organized before and hopefully people of Finland will add more cheese next to their beers someday ;) 

Thank you Viinitie, thank you the smiley man of Viinitie, Santeri, for this organization and the opportunity to be with you in this tasting.

May your glass be filled with well-made craft beers, greetings.

The First Wine Bloggers' Meeting of 2015 in Helsinki

On 21 March Saturday I attended the first meeting of Finnish wine bloggers, Kevään Miitti/The Spring meeting and it was amazing to meet the wine lovers at the same time blind-tasting several wines while having some snacks together.

A very lovely woman and a good friend, Heta of Viinilla blog took a lot of responsibility for this meeting and we all had a great time with wine, about wine and into wine! The schedule was calling for meeting at 3pm in front of Helsinki Distilling Company at Teurastamo.

I have been professionally interested in wine culture almost about 3 years now, and in time, this wine interest also took me into premium beers and good whiskies and I became an advocate for these beverages too. So, visiting Helsinki Distilling Company was I think a great start for such a great meeting. 

So, on Saturday, 21 March, we all met about 3pm at the distillery and a very friendly cool man, Séamus of HDCO warmly welcomed us and he quickly started to introduce the building and the project to us. Séamus is an Irish man, who would be a great partner for a political conversation during/after a few beers (Usually Irish people have a lot to say about politics for sure as a historical result), and his interest in whisky making business was not a surprise for me anymore after I knew he is Irish. He gave us a great amount of info about the distilling premises, even the names of the 3 steel tanks named after the 3 workers carrying them in. I lost the names since i took my notes into my phone and lost some of the data. Thanks to technology.

Séamus told us how they found the building, all the challenges and problems they went through and finally how they did set up all in Teurastamo. He also introduced us their products -whiskies, gins, applejacks- and upcoming trials on different products/ideas after he told us the details of their production line. It was amazing to be there and be able to ask anything directly to the CEO of the company. They do organize tours in the distillery, well, do u have a friend who is into distilled products? Dont you have enough money to buy him/her a ticket to Scotland or Ireland as a gift? Contact the distillery and take your friend to a distillery tour, it is very reasonably priced.

Then we all headed to Nomad Cellars which is a relatively new wine cellar and tasting room in the very heart of downtown Helsinki. It is started by the business partners Petteri Laine and Kale Angus. I have done and still doing some business together with them. They are very relaxed and calm people who are very easy to go along with and I am really happy to know them. 

Petteri in the very middle

In Nomad Cellars, Petteri Laine was already waiting for us to introduce the cellar premises and luckily he joined us at the tasting table with his bottle too. Altogether, we had 10 different bottle of amazing wines, it was just about to be 11 if Antti's bottle was not corked, Otto's non-vintage champagne from 70's was also little bit out of bubbles but it was still drinkable. I also opened a kind of bonus bottle which was not tasted blind, an organically produced Turkish wine of an indigenous Turkish/Balkan variety of Papaskarasi by the producer Chamlija which I am a big fan of. This bottle was recognized as the most interesting of the night by some of the bloggers, but I do not take this wine as in "the same package" with other wines since it was organically produced thus it is another category of wine. It is just so easy to sense "the nature" in that wine so it can easily become your favorite wine and make you write poems, well, say it again Robert! ----> 

"Wine is bottled poetry." 

Thanks.

From the blind tasting, my favorite was Pieropan Calvarino 2012 brought by Copatinto's Teemu, with its fresh, energetic and supple structure. and I joined the tasting with a bottle from a classic French region Châteauneuf-du-Pape with a classic blend of the region, which actually people all guessed that it would be a New World, which was somehow surprising. By the way, I had been practicing my Finnish wine vocabulary via Teemu's blog Copatinto from time to time and it was fun to meet him that day :)

The blogs if you want to visit:

Loppasuut     Pullon Henki     Blanc de Blancs     

Viinihullun Päiväkirjä     Viiniministeri    

Viinikartta    Wineserver     Viinilla

Copatinto     Rypäleistä Viis    Reseptitaivas

After the tasting we all had some small chat, drank the rest of the wines and tried to get to know each other more. The next stop was Restaurant Grotesk for the bloggers but I was not able to join them at that part of the night. People left, I finished my last drops in the glass, cleaned around little bit. I was feeling the satisfaction of being with people who are into wine, who take wine serious, who put effort, spend time and money on it. 

I left the cellar, I was satisfied and happy, my hands in my pocket, slowly heading home while thinking about wine and how powerful it is as a culture or was it me giving it the power, slowly walking in the evening of Helsinki streets, what time it was.... It was after the sunset, but before the midnight, after the offices were closed, but before the taxi drivers started their long night work, after lots of people started to get drunk, but before they got wasted, after the shops were closed, but before the prostitutes occupied the corners, after people started to meet each other, but before they got refused and confused, after the lonely nurse started her night shift, but before she fell asleep on the desk... After the end of a good day, but before the procreative night started. 

May your glass be filled with intelligent wine. Greetings.

Luigi Einaudi Barolo Terlo 2009

Transparent dark red with light brown rims. First nose has green notes like chives, anise then licorice gets the scene with leather. Blueberry notes are dominant in the mouth with a high acidity, which makes this wine crispy. in time the mouth gets a fruity structure. Medium bodied with nice, integrated tannins, following a moderate final with a touch of vanillin and gets closer to the balance in the glass after some time. 90/100 39,70/75cl/February 2014

Farnito Camponibbio 2007 (Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon)

A Super Tuscan style wine. The color is opaque, dark ruby red with purple rims. The first nose is extroverted, it has baked fruits then blueberry, raspberry, fruit jam and slightly blood come to the scene. An almost perfection in balance at the palate, it is like chewing a bunch of dark forest berries in the mouth. Extremely fruity palate is a great fun with a medium to full body. The fruity final is quite long. Tannins are significant but integrated. A very easy, pleasurable drinking with a nice and surprising satisfaction of velvety texture. A wine of moment, not necessarily something to eat together, this wine might be enjoyed just reading a book together or consumed enjoying the night with a special person. Non-spicy cold cuts like Prosc.Parma might be a pair if needed. Decent price/quality ratio. 92/100  28,50€/75cl/February 2014

Lo Zoccolaio Dolcetto d'Alba 2012

Opaque with yellow rims. The nose is dominantly fruity, a hint of lingonberry followed by blueberry. In the mouth, the blueberry aroma continues together with blackcurrant. The full body is even more prominent with the robust tannins, followed by a slight astringency. The final is long with a satisfaction of deep dark flavors. The wine relaxes quite easily with decantation. Quite a good wine for its price-quality ratio. I think it is very young right now and I am going to buy few bottles to age for some couple of years and see how it develops. It might be good with heavy stews and butter fried fatty pieces of red meat like entrecote. 85/100 12,73€/75cl/February 2014

Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Sagrantino 2008

Slightly transparent, dark ruby red with purple rims. The nose is a big surprise for a Sagrantino, it is extremely fruity and elegant, blackberry and blueberry followed by a slight rustic touch, a hint of leather. The nose is a great fun, I can spend my hours with sniffing this complex structure of aromas. In the mouth, the fruity background continues with strong tannins. Tannins are strong, little bit astringent but integrated and delicious. This beautiful velvety Italian has a medium to full body. It has a relatively masculen palate for its elegant, feminine nose. It is also possible to get hints of vanillin during the joyful final, which is long and pleasant. It might fit to red meat stews and cold cuts, or just, I would also love it to drink, enjoying the night reading my book. Delicious, complex structure, characteristic. Its a wine for nice moments. 92/100. Not available in Finland.

Reserve Naturelle Chardonnay 2012

Light straw yellow, first nose has a touch like gooseberry then it follows fresh grass and a hint of lime. Quite fresh in the mouth and velvety feeling with a touch of butteriness. It offers an easy drinking and a surprisingly balanced character for its price/quality ratio. The fresh final is short-moderate but fun with a touch of minerality. It can be a friend for a lot of dishes like salads as a main dish or seafood plates. With this price/quality ratio, this wine could be your daily white. It is also an organic product. 10,47€/75cl/Janaury 2014

Domenico Clerico Barbera d'Alba Trevigne 2006 (Barbera 100%)

Dark ruby red with light red rims. The nose is dominated by baked fruits, a hint of licorice, blackberry and cassis. In the mouth, strong, sharp tannins with a little bit astringency. Full bodied. The after taste has a touch of vanilla and chocolate. One of my favorite regions, one of my favorite varieties... A very pleasant wine by a good producer, like the Villa Matilde Taurasi... These are serious stuff... Not available in Finland.

Tasted among some other wines during a blind tasting.

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Villa Matilde Tenute Alta DOCG Taurasi 2008 (Aglianico 100%)

Dark ruby red with purple rims. A very fruity nose, red forest berries among jam-like baked fruits notes with a small touch of woodiness. Sweetish in the mouth, in the mid palate, there is a nice touch of clove. The tannins are harsh, a typical Italian rusticity there is. The strong fruity structure is made up by the tannin and a character. This full bodied wine had a nice, long final with a satisfaction smile on the consumer´s face... Not available in Finland.

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Austrian Wine Tasting Helsinki 08.10.2013

Last Tuesday, I was exploring the Austrian wines in a very wide range for the Finnish scale in Restaurant Sipuli which is nearby the Uspenski Cathedral in the heart of Helsinki.
Few weeks ago, I received an e-mail signed by the names Marketing Manager Barbara Arbeithuber and the Marketing Assistant Petra Kotlan. I was grateful to them for inviting me but after the tasting when I got back home, I was not only grateful to them but also extremely impressed by the Austrian wines.

Austria in Finnish is "Itävalta" which literally means "East Power". Such a masculine naming right? But for their wines, no, with few exceptions, it is not working at all... Such elegant, chic, characteristic, charming wines Austria has that from the first sip to the last, they state a nice smile of satisfaction on the face. It is beautiful, it is feminine, it is charming, it is entertaining, it is intelligent, it is caring, it has, "personality".


During the tasting, I had the chance to taste indigenious varieties of Austria such as Grüner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and international varieties like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and more, as monocepage and coupage. The coupage wines were mostly good examples but some of them really resembled wines made of industrial/commercial concerns. But only some of them. After all, when I left the tasting, the only thing remaining in my mind was how great characteristics the wines had.

If you would like to know the producers and companies which attended to that event, here is the link for the booklet of Helsinki Tasting:

http://media.austrianwine.com/pindownload/pindownload.do;jsessionid=6FD3E8E56C39400B96C28C6D750E4CA9

Uspenski Cathetral on top of us "like a boss"

Geyerhof

Birgit Braunstein

I have visited the stands of several producers and I am totally surprised how producers can reflect themselves in their wines. There are "7 Elements of Uniqueness" attributed for Austrian wines and one of them is stated as "The People". That is not just a show of fancy words, that is true, totally true. I have met some of the representatives or producers of the wines and I felt the visions of the people at my palate. For example Birgit Braunstein. When I started to taste her wines while listening her kind voice and watching her warm and friendly eyes, I could see that, this stylish and kind person was "the mother of the wines". As much as she spoke and I taste, the wines became a part of her, or she became a part of them. There was a strong reflection/relation between. The same words I can really say for Ilse Maier of Geyerhof. Great wines, elegance, kindness, the warmth and care of a woman´s friendly eyes... She is definitely another "mother of wines". Geyerhof is also an Organic Wine producer, unfortunately, they are both not available in Finnish Monopoly yet.

Beautiful Design

Esterházy was another producer with great wines presented by the charismatic representative Susanne Janotka. The wines were very "Austrian" in sense of the significant character and elegance. But there is one more thing, that the great label designs. The bottle design is one of the most important reasons for the average consumer and Esterházy has great modern designs; it is not "new", it is "modern"( as everything "new" is called "modern" on these days, nonsense). Here 2 bottles to see, from the producer´s internet site www.esterhazy.at (Click on the pictures if you want to see bigger).


Among the producers that I had time to visit, H.u.M. Hofer, Winzer Krems, Umathum and Zantho are all very good producers for their price-quality ratio with great floral notes, cherry/berry aromas, high acidity with a satisfying minerality. Quite a lot of the producers do not have importers in Finland yet, so I hope in the near future, we can have a wider range of Austrian beauty.

Another Beauty

I left the tasting event with a smile on my face and some new visions with a deep understanding of how one can put his/her personality into the wine. I got a better vision of indigenous varieties too which made me very greedy for Austrian varieties like Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch. For sure I knew that Austria has big, crispy, delicious whites with high levels of acidity and minerality but I did not know that they had developed a very high level of quality for red wines, especially Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is such a variety that you might hate it if you taste a lil bit lower quality one and the PNs in Finland which are under 15€ are usually such examples of PN that can make one hate it. So, look for some Austrian one if you want to have an elegant Pinot Noir, if you do not have enough budget for a Gevrey-Chambertin. After all, I will spend more time in front of the Austrian stand in the monopoly stores. I suggest you the same! Thanks the AWMB again!

May your glass be filled with Austrian wine. Greetings.

Austrian Wine Tasting in Helsinki by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board

2 days ago, last Tuesday, I have attended the Austrian Wine Tasting organized by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board in Restaurant Sipuli (Ravintola Sipuli) and I am totally impressed by the elegant, chic, characteristic, charismatic Austrian wine. Soon I will write about the tasting event and the wines I tried.

May your glass be filled with Austrian wine. Greetings.

Luigi Righetti Amarone Classico 2008

Light red at the rims and slightly brown in the midpoint. First nose has the hints of black pepper and quite fruity. Second nose has blackberry and blueberry and slightly woody. In the mouth, licorice and leather is accompanies by baked fruits like rose hip jam. It is not "the big Amarone" but still satisfying. The strong but integrated tannins are little bit astringent but no harm for the enjoyment. The nose reveals some vanillin in time. The final is moderate. It might be enjoyed alone or with cold cuts as well as spicy barbecues. 87.5/100 Not available in Finland yet.

Collina del Sole Amarone della Valpolicella 2009

Slightly transparent crimson. First nose earthy and has notes of licorice. Second nose dominated by licorice stronger and tar comes out in time. It is slightly fruity in the mouth, good high acidity, raspberry and blackberry aromas are accompanied by blueberry aroma. The leather sensed at the mid-palate is combining with spicy notes and tobacco insignificantly. Tannins are not that strong. This wine with moderate final should be decanted at least one hour before consumed. All in all it is still a nice wine to enjoy, even though you might not feel the expected iron fist in the velvet glove of an Amarone. It can match all kinds of red meat dishes, spicy casseroles and cold cuts. 87/100 Not available in Finland yet.

Whisky Tasting we held last week in Helsinki

If you start to get into the knowledge of wine, in time, I think it is inevitable to get into the knowledge of beer and finally, whisky. So me and my friend Eric, decided to set up a whisky tasting and got ready for the evening after a big barbecue lunch on Saturday last week.

We decided on a single malt tasting and choose three Scotch single malts from his big collection to taste with the fourth one which is brought by me (Singleton of Dufftown).

Then we started the tasting with our tulip glasses proper for whisky tasting. we first tried four Scotch and compared each other, then tried an Irish single malt "Connemara" and the Finnish whisky "Teerenpeli".

1- The Singleton of Dufftown 12 years, Speyside: Light amber color with a very fruity nose, dried fruits, caramel, honey, daisy flower. Fruitiness still exists in the mouth, lemon and berry-type of aromas. Vanillin with a floral touch during the long final. Rich but smooth, velvety. Better without adding water.

2- Lagavulin 16 years, Islay : Dark amber color, the nose is strongly dominated by smoke, then toast, smoked ham, wet wood. the attack phase is very strong in the mouth. Peat, little bit petrol, hay and salt strongly felt with a very very long final full of joy. Little bit of coffee is possible to get also.

3- Auchentoshan Three Wood, Lowland: This one has been aged in three different casks, Spanish Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Spanish Oloroso Sherry and American Bourbon finally. The color is dark bronze, fruity nose of lemon, orange, pear, apricot; in the mouth, vanillin and nutty aromas leaves the stage to bitter chocolate and toffee during the final. The body is weaker than Singleton but still a nice viscosity with sweet and fruity touches.

4- The Glenlivet 18 years, Speyside: Medium Amber color. Winey nose, cream; very sweet in the mouth, honey and butter notes,  little bit of vanillin. very easy drinking with a moderate final. The nose is quite extroverted.

Among the four Scotch single malts, with the strong smoke and petrol/tar aromas, Lagavulin had been totally different. Other three were quite fruity and Singleton of Dufftown was marching at the front among them with its thick viscosity, easy drinking and sweet fruitiness.

we had two more whiskies as I mentioned above and they were considered like the dessert after a big meal.





*Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whisky: Hay and floral nose, in the mouth, vanillin and caramel come to the stage with a touch of clove-kind of spiciness. Moderate final.

*Teerenpeli Single Malt 8 years: It might be funny for the Finns to read that, this is a very local product; that it has a porridge kind of smell at the nose. floral notes with buttery feeling and a reflection of the nose aromas in the mouth. Sweet-ish final is moderate and water changes it´s taste so much.


I am very much thankful for my friend for being with me to create this chance to taste and compare different whiskies and have a good occasion together.

By the way, interesting that together with sweet soft stone fruits like peaches, whisky goes well :)

May your glass be filled with happiness.

Little bit of Turkish wines

Exactly one month ago from today, I was in Istanbul and had a chance to taste some Turkish wines at the same time having a nice holiday, spiced with pepper spray and teargas by the Turkish police. The protests starting at Gezi Park against a despotic dictatorship-like government are now not only in Istanbul but in the whole country and the demand for real democracy and the need for feeling more like a human now take place in Istanbul streets. The police violently attacks people (not only protestors but any person they can see in the street) but the protestors seem like not leaving the place where they belong to. Turkey, seems like, more hopeful than anytime it seemed like before.

So, just one of the tens of reasons of that social explosion is the new alcohol regulations of the government, which mostly aims to finish the production of the beverages -like wine which contain alcohol- rather than protecting the public health. The wine producers in Turkey recently started to worry quite a lot because they are not anymore able to advertise their products, in any case. So I feel a bit lucky to taste some of the Turkish wines, as they might be the last ones in the world if Turkey continues like that.

I had a chance to watch the beautiful Princes Islands of Istanbul while having an amateur wine tasting. My hosts, who are two great women, were quite much into wine so a tasting with people who really take wine as a serious thing (as it is in nature) is always much more fun than tasting with people who do not care anything about wine but just the alcohol content in it.

My host and friend Hande with her mother and her cheeses :)

We had to taste 5 wines; a Turkish rose, a Turkish white and two Turkish reds with a French red too. I was mostly telling my hosts about wines during the tasting but I was still able to observe the wines and have some ideas as well as write some notes. What I saw again, as all the wine authorities say, was the great potential of local varieties in taste compared to international varieties. The local varieties always feels like close to an elegant, balanced wine while the international varieties sometimes feel like "forced to be a bottle of wine." Even though the wine quality is rising up in Turkey, it has been like that since a long time, as I had tasted several Turkish wines before. The taste, body and aromas are not showing that much typicity which might be a question of terroir, as the vineyards might be in too-warm areas in Turkey. This for sure does not mean that international varieties are not possible to grow in Turkey. But still, it really needs vision, time and experience in Turkey. Actually the French wine in that tasting (Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007) was a very good final and good example to prove how an average table wine should be.


With four Turkish and one French, the wines were:


1- Kavaklidere Selection Narince-Emir 2010: A coupage of two great local varieties. Straw yellow color with sour apple and lime aromas at the first nose with nutty and woody aromas coming after that. In the mouth liitle bit vanillin is felt during the elegant, easy drinking. Pleasant with a moderate acidity and moderate final.


2- Büyülübağ Iris Adakarasi 2010: Orange rims with a pink color. At the nose, surprisingly baked fruits, jam,  the acidity is satisfying (might be little bit higher), fruity and fresh at the mid-palate, moderate final. A good rose to enjoy cooler.


3- Doluca Antik Bogazkere-Shiraz 2011: This wine has been my favorite for the price/quality ratio long long time ago. The Turkish variety Bogazkere is blended with the beautiful Shiraz and created a fruity but structured wine to consume. It is a very average wine. But the price for that quality makes it very good. Color is almost purple with light crimson on the rims. The nose has blackberry and blueberry aromas with a hint of spiciness. Possible to get some cloves at the second nose. Nice, medium bodied an average table wine which is perfectly nostalgic to me.


4- Büyülübağ Vedat Milor Syrah Tempranillo Grenache 2011: This is from a series of wine which that producer created together with Turkish food&wine celebrity Vedat Milor and the series has his name. The reason they say that they wanted to create wines which have some level of quality with a reasonable price. But, what I can say, it is not balanced, it is a bit forced power to be wine I think.  Baked fruits and blackberry, little bit astringent, the tannins are strong but on the right way to be integrated, satisfying acidity with a moderate-long final. I think the strong body is overshading the joy of drinking. But that might make this wine match with strong meat stews or strong barbecued red meat, like lamb chops.


5- Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007: A classic for a good quality of daily consumption, At the nose rose, baked fruits, ripe pear; in the mouth blackberry, blueberry, cloves... Woody with integrated tannins with a full body. Final is long. A very good wine which sometimes I buy to enjoy, I haven't had 2007 before. There is also a tasting note here for 2009 recolte. 

All in all, Turkish wine industry has potential with a growing number of people who are interested in it. But the religious despotic government is ruling the country into a very scary way and that not might be only the end of wine industry in Turkey, but also the end of lots of political and social freedoms.

Still, for now, Turkey is hopeful, as its wines.