Turkish Wine of the Week - Yanık Ülke 2013 Strabon

During my buying spree at Sensus they gifted me with a half bottle of Yanık Ülke 2013 Strabon which is a Boğazkere, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot blend. It's like a personal bottle of wine! Well, who am I trying to kid? All bottles of wine, regardless of size, are personal sized for me!

The dark, dark, dense red color matched the hot, spicy, smokey nose to perfection. And wow it's got some legs.

What are "legs" anyway? When I first started drinking wine I always looked for them during the swirl stage thinking, erroneously, that they were an indication of quality. Legs are actually an indication of the amount of alcohol in a wine (lots and lots of legs) or with sweeter wines legs that flow more slowly and stickily down the inside of the glass. Considering the hotness in the nose it wasn't really a surprise that this wine had so many legs it could likely run faster than I can.

Although to be fair, just about anytime can run fast than I can.

On the palate the Strabon has some nice tannins, less acid than I expected given the hotness, and lingers well. Flavors of clove and tobacco possibly with some red fruits, however the fruit flavors didn't come through a whole lot for me so I'm not too confident on that note.

Since this was a gift on my way out of the shop I did not get a look at the price, but I'd probably drink it again. I can't say it was fantastic or outstanding but neither did I want to spit it out. 2.8 stars.

Turkish Wine of the Week - Gordias 2012 Boğazkere

I fell a little in love with Gordias wines previously after trying the Kalecik Karası and Narınce. Then one afternoon in Sensus Galata I found MORE. More Gordias wines! Including a Boğazkere (55TL) and the "throat burner" Turkish grape has long been a favorite.

I really let the anticipation on this one build and took some time to enjoy the deep, purply red color. Then on to the nose; what is that? Seriously it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what I was smelling. It was so familiar but at the same time utterly elusive-until it hit me; pine forests and leather.

The nose is replete with pine forest and leather with berry undertones. It was fascinating. Not in a, I couldn't stop inhaling long enough to drink way, but in a I said "This is fascinating" and smiled every time I inhaled.

There is a lot of leather in the mouth, nice medium tannins, and a long finish. At first it was a little acidy for me but it opened beautifully to bring up more leather, dark cherries, and chocolate.

Drinking this wine was a true shpadoinkel moment. It is beautiful. In a way every sip weirded me out a little because of the pine and sometimes overwhelming leather (frankly it was a little bit like being back at my dad's farm sitting in the tack barn which is surrounded by Christmas trees). I still really liked it though. I will definitely buy this again.

Especially since it pairs so beautifully with foods I like: tomatoes, salt, strong cheese, and the magical truffled almonds from Trader Joe's that my bestest friend and co-blogger Lauren sent me from the US. She sent me a 6 ounce bag last Christmas and I have managed to conserve them by eating only a few at a time. There are still a few left! However I no longer have to be so parsimonious because she bought me two more bags!