Chateau Brondelle 200?

Chateau Brondelle 200?

Unfortunately, I can't give much information about this wine since I didn't take any notes. I remember only that it was a very nice, round, and delicious wine from Bordeaux, France made of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. I would remember more if I was the one who choose it from the menu.

We had this wine on a dinner in a very nice atmosphere with two persons that I love so much. In such lovely atmospheres, the wines taste much better :) but at the same time, since there are much more interesting subjects to cover, no one cares about tasting notes. Nevertheless, I would suggest that you also forget about the wine tasting notes but rather enjoy the nice conversation if you happen to be in such places with people you love.

Melen Papazkarasi Reserve (2006)

Melen Papazkarası Reserve (2006)

Papazkarasi is a local grape of Turkey which can be used as a table grape (to eat) or in wine making. It is still not very widely used in Turkish wines. I remember that I had once tasted Kutman's Papazkarasi.

Melen has described Papazkarasi as "forgotten prince of Thrace" and made a wine labeled as "reserve". They also wrote that the wine is "oak treated", from which I understand that the wine has been kept in oak barrales or something similar hapened during production process. For me, only the fact that they made a wine from this beautiful local grape was sufficient to glorify. Therefore, I didn't care much about what oak treatment meant.

I saw Papazkarası Reserve's 2006 vintage lying on the floor in front of Mania Gurme in Istinye Park (a shopping mall in Istanbul). I thought they wanted to sell all of them immediately since they believed the wine cannot age any longer. I grabbed a bottle at around $ 20.

I think 2006 vintage of this wine should be drank at latest in 2010! Altough I smelled a nice strawberry jam aroma on the nose, I couldn't feel any tannins, body or acidity when I tasted it. It felt as if the wine had fled away from the bottle and had left a light color and light taste behind. Considering that we cannot know in which conditions the bottle was kept since 2006, it is possible that there are bottles of the same wine in much metter conditions. This one was only our fate, not necessarily yours.

Kavaklidere Selection Narince Emir 2008

Kavaklıdere Selection Narince Emir 2008

We have gathered in Radika in Kosuyolu for Baris's birthday. Thanks to him for letting us know such a nice place :) As usual, we arrived earlier than anyone else and therefore we chosed the wine. Since it was a hot summer evening, we wanted to drink a cold white wine, so we chosed Selection Narince Emir of Kavaklidere.

Narince and Emir are local grapes of Turkey. Narince is grown around Tokat and Emir is grown around Kapadokya. Narince has noticeable citrus fruit aromas. I couldn't notice such a distinctive characteristic for Emir yet :) May be its acidity, because it is rather high.

Since we drank Busbag'a Narince-Emir a few days ago, my evaluation for this wine is rather a comparison. Selection Narince Emir is as much aromatic as Buzbag's Narince Emir, but Selection has a little more acidity compared to the latter. Well, I personally prefer low acidity, but I think this wine was very nice, too.

Considering that we had to order the second bottle of the same wine a short while after everyone popped up, I gues I made a good choice for everyone :)

A Wine Journey to Anatolia

Resim yazısı ekle

Buzbag organized an event to rediscover the harmony of Anatolian cuisine with wine. Thanks to this event, we had the opportunity to follow the footmarks of wine from Eastern Anatolia to Hittites' earthenwares, from home made wines of Antakya to Buzbag on our tables in Kosebasi Restaurant. As Cuneyt Uygur, Manager of Kayra Wine Center, said, it was not a competition, it was rather a journey and Kosebasi's cuisine and Kayra's Buzbag wine accompanied us in our journey.

Buzbağ Emir-Narince 2010

This was a dinner which provided the proof for arguing against the belief that wine should be consumed along with Italian pasta, with French style foie gras, or with an almost raw but still soft piece of steak. Buzbag has discovered a way to bring people like me (who doesn't like kebap) to a kebap restaurant! They offered delicious Turkish food of Kosebasi together with Buzbag wines along with nice conversation about wine. The following wines were served: Buzbag Beyaz (white), Buzbag Klasik, Buzbag Elazig Okuzgozu, Buzbag Diyarbakir Bogazkere, and Buzbag Rezerv. All of these red wines are made of Okuzgozu (fruity and lively) and Bogazkere (strong taste and tannin) grapes of Elazig and Diyarbakir respectively. These are local grapes that can be used in both blends or variatals. As Cuneyt Uygur mentioned that it was a general belief that wines and food of the same region make good matches. So, it should be a wise choice to drink these wines with Anatolian cuisine.

Buzbag Emir-Narince

The first course was a cheese table offered together with Buzbag Beyaz. This is a very nice refreshing wine with citrus fruit aromas made of Emir and Narince grapes. Its acidity is moderate compared to most of the wines. It is both strong and delicate, as the names of the grapes suggest. It had a great harmony with tulum cheese (a Turkish cheese that is enchased in a skin in production phase). The white and yellow (kasar) cheeses did not match with the wine as much as tulum did.

I was a little surprized when the appetizers were served. I can eat any food with wine at my home, but I didn't expect them to be so assertive to serve gavurdagi, toros, abagannus and cig kofte on a wine event (these are all traditional Turkish food that contain significant amount spices, or at least garlic). I am not really fond of hot spices. Therefore I didn't even try to match cig kofte with any wine. I still give them credit for their courageous offer. The most interesting match for me was between abagannus (an appetizer made of eggplant, garlic and yogurt) and white wine. Buzbag Beyaz made the taste of garlic and yoghurt mildly sour.

Buzbag Klasik

Buzbag Klasik (2008), made of Okuzgozu and Bogazkere, was served together with these appetizers but I saved my expectations from this wine for it's match with the next, warm appetizers. When warm appetizers arrived, I knew that that was going to be a long night. I was almost full already! Buzbag Elazig Okuzgozu was served to our glasses. It is a lievely wine with red fruit and a little pepper aromas and medium body. I think it made the best match with icli kofte (a special kind of meatball with meat, nuts, onion inside and bulghur as a shell) and patlican sogurme (a warm appetizer made of steamed eggplant), which is normally not easy to match with wines. Humus (made of chickpeas and crushed sesame seeds) was much better with Buzbag Klasik.

Then it was Bogazkere's (my favourite) turn. They served Buzbag Diyarbakir Bogazkere together with Tarsusi Kebap and Pideli Saslik (these are kinds of Turkish kebap, the first made of minced meat and the second of pieces of meat). I was thinking that I don't like kebap made of minced meat but I had never tasted Tarsusi Kebap before! I loved it so much I ate all of it in a few seconds together with Bogazkere. Bogazkere's strong tannins resisted the strong and a dense taste of Tarsusi Kebap and maintained balance. Afterwards, they served Şaşlık Kebabı and I had never tasted it before too! It was so soft that I thought Bogazkere's strong taste is too strong for it, but I was wrong. They glided through my throath together softly.

Buzbag Reserv (2006)

In the meantime, the last emtly glass was filled with Buzbag Rezerv (2006). Similar to Buzbag Klasik, it is a blend of Okuzgozu and Bogazkere, but has also been rested in French oak for 24 months, so that Bogazkere's austerity becomes a little milder. It is a strong, bodied, balanced wine. Among chop-rib, kebap with eggplant and shish kebap, the wines best match was with shish kebap.

Lastly, the deserts were served. I have a long distance relationship with deserts, but this doesn't mean that I won't taste them at all. I tasted kunefe, semolina (irmik) with icecream, and pumpkin with icecream and crushed seasam seeds (tahin) respectively. I think kunefe was very good, considering that it didn't make me feel it was too much! Usually, semolina with icecream is very popular especially after too much eating :) but this time the semolina pieces were cold and sticky a little. Pumpkin desert was not as soft as it is usually, but it really melted in my mouth together with tahin and icecream. Therefore, it was my favourite.

Pumpkin desert

I hope that I could at least make you think about, that wine is not something unattainable, not something that is not for "us" but is rather for western countries, ant that Turkish cuisine is compatible with wine. I wish you discover the wines that you like to drink with your favourite food and you share the joy that I try to share with you in this blog.

Turasan Seneler Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Syrah (again)

Turasan Seneler Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Syrah 2008

I told you about this wine before. It is definately a wine that is worth to try. I didn't like it this time as much as I did previously though. May be this is because my expectation was too high.

This is a lively wine with very intense red fruity and spicy aromas, full body, and marked tannin. I think it needs to be aired for a very long time. I was not so patient and this is probably a reason for why I didn't like it this time as much as I did in my first try.

Non-spill Pourer

Non-spill Pourer

This pourer was indluded in a gift package, so I don't know where it can be bought and how much it costs. If you wish to buy something like this, you may search for something called wine pourer or non-spill pourer.

If you serve wine at home, you should know that there is always a drop to fall on the table. Even if it doesn't drop immediately, it will slowly flow down on the surface of the bottle until it finds the table.

This little thing prevents this from happening. You put this thing on the top of the bottle so that the little spiral part goes into the bottle and that's all! You may serve the wine now without spilling.

Body of Wine

Let's imagine that you take a sip of water and feel it... Then, you swallow it and take a sip of milk... Than another sip from an intense peach juice... Each of those beverages will leave a different sense of intensity and weight in your mouth. When we describe the body of the first one, water as light/thin body, then the milk would have a medium body and the peach juice (only if it is a really intense one) would have a full body.

There are also differences in intensity and in weight among the wines, as there are differences among water, milk and peach juice. In order to describe those differences, to describe the thickness of the wine compared to other wines or compared to the average, people use adjectives like light bodied, medium bodied or full bodied. You may also use those expressions from now on since you know what they mean now :)