Diren Collection Syrah 2007

Diren Collection Syrah 2007

Last monday, I decided that I was going to open a wine to accompany the steaks that I prepared one day earlier. This was my plan for Valentine's Day; having steak for dinner at home with my husband and tasting a new wine. 

While I was preparing the meal, my husband already had opened the bottle of Diren Collection Syrah. I tasted it immediately of course and I liked it very much. This was my second favourite wine of the same collection following Diren Collection Merlot.

Diren Collection Syrah 2007

It is made of  Syrah (85 %), Cabernet Sauvignon (7,5%) and Kalecik Karası (7,5%). I smelled strong aromas of spices and red fruits, but my husband, on the other hand, said that he smelled flwary aromas. It has a very strong and permanent taste on the palate. Despite its strong taste, I believe it is easy to drink even for people who are not familiar with wine drinking, probably due to its balance. In fact, I can argue the same for Merlot of the same collection. Both wines entered my list of the wines to be bought for the second time without hesitation.

I wonder how I will be buying those wines in the future. I bought these from www.sarapshop.com to which I was directed by the website of the producer. Considering that I will not be able to shop online for wine as soon as new regulation comes into effect, shall I step by stores and ask them if they have any wines of Diren? Now I understand how much I like online shopping. It is so comfortable! Shall I rather say it was confortable?

Diren Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Diren Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

While I am preparing this post at my desk at home, I am still supping this wine, the subject of the post. Usually I do not do this. I rather take notes on the wine I'm tasting on some notebook (or sometimes only in my mind) and then wait for an appropriate moment to write a post about that wine. Sometimes, I feel like things may be skipped/forgotten in the time that passes between tasting and writing. Let's see how it works in this way. In fact, you will probably read this post a few days later because I'll wait a few days before I publish my post in case anything else comes to my mind that I'd like to add to the post.

Today's wine is Diren Collection Cabernet Sauvignon. As you may recall from the previous wines of this collection, there are two more grapes that are named in small letters on the bottle: Shiraz and Boğazkere.

Without going into the details about the effect of these two grapes, I'd like to say that I think this is the most delicious Cabernet Sauvignon that I ever tasted. All right, how many varietal Cabernet Sauvignon's did I ever taste? Well, there was Turasan's... Any more? I browse through my notes and I see that there was also Frontera. Maybe I tasted a few in tasting courses or on similar occasions. So, this proves that I am computing an inductive conclusion based on my very limited experience and I express an exaggerated appreciation. I may comfortably argue that there is no impact of the alcohol in my applause as the half of my glass is still full.

First of all, the color of the wine is a very beautiful, dark red. I can describe the aroma that I'm sensing as strong and fruity. I am currently pushing myself to sense and describe more, but I can tell you there is not much hope. Maybe it is because I could not get through the flue as I thougt I did a few days ago.

Diren Collection Boğazkere 2007

Diren Collection Boğazkere 2007

I continue with Diren wines. This time I let my husband to choose because it was his birthday. Before I finished listing what choises we have at home, he declared his choise saying "I dring Boğazkere!". Boğazkere can be a good match with red meat and also with spicy meat. Can it be a concidence that my husband, who loves red meat and Turkish kebap very much) likes to drink Boğazkere varietal?

We enjoyed this delicious wine, which is made from Cabernet Sauvignon with a little touch of Kalecik Karası, drinking slowly and tasting the light bitterness of the lovely tannings. It was softer than I expected (which is good), but it did not stay long on the palate (we did not care much). There was no red meat accompanying the wine though, but the wine was fine and we were in a good mood, so, we enjoyed what we had.

Diren Collection Okuzgozu 2007

Diren Öküzgözü 2007

You may recall that I was very delighted with the flavor/price performance of Diren Collection Merlot. A few days ago, I ordered five bottles of other wines from the same collection through the website of Diren. I gave the first rank for tasting to Collection Okuzgozu. I will be writing about the others in the following days. I brought Collection Kalecik Karasi to a friend of mine who invited us for the new year's eve, but we did not open the bottle that night. So, I will not be abble to comment on it only. That friend of mine is a follower of my blog (Turkish one), so I hope that he will provide me with his comments once he tastes it :)


Diren Collection Okuzgozu is made of the grapes produced in Elazığ ve Denizli. It has intense fruity aromas, soft tannin and high acidity. Although the name highlights only one grape, Okuzgozu, some Cabernet sauvignon was also blended with it. I believe this is a very nice, delicious wine considering its very favourable price at sarapshop (15,90 TL). It was not as impressive as Diren Collection Merlot, but I would still serve it to my friends without hesitation. In fact, I already did.

I understand that the wines of Collection series are not aged in oak barrels, but I smell oaki why? I would be very happy if someone can enlighten me. I plan to attend a tasting seminar soon. I hope I'll learn there how to evaluate the tastes and smells that I perceive.

Diren Collection Merlot 2008

Diren Collection Merlot 2008

I did something that I rarely do. On my way to home, I bought tortellini of my favorite brand and I picked up a wine for myself from the box I received from onlinemahzen.com. I decided that if this was going to be a lonely evening, I should enjoy my lonelyness. I would not feel guiltiness when I could't finish the bottle since I had my wine saver now. I took my first sip of Diren Collection Merlot 2008 while tortellini was still getting boiled.

I noticed how tranlucent the wine's color was. Although it was a dark red color, I could see the things behind the wine in the glass. When I smelled the wine, I noticed red fruity, oaky and spicy aromas, which made me very happy. It has a nice, delicious permanence on the palate. I admit that this wine appears to be beyond my expactation. I would buy it once more without hesitation. The price is very convenient. In fact, I believe I am going to taste other wines of Diren soon.