Turkish Wine of the Week - Kutman Ipsala 2005

This week we're diverting from Suvla. Largely because I saw a bottle of wine at Carrefour last week that I don't recall having seen before. A Kutman Varietal Gamay - Cabernet from 2005.

Gamay is about the only wine for which I will forgive the French. In fact I was fairly well set on making France a parking lot for Europe or giving it to Germany after I take over the world; but my friend L pleaded for it. She gets France and Ireland and my interference in her rule will be minimal. Ish. But I digress.

At 38TL the Ipsala is right around the price point I have come to grudgingly accept as the minimal amount for quality wine here. *Sob* I miss Trader Joe's.

I think what caught my attention was the label which, I think, has a very European look to it. I decided that between that and the fact that I haven't seen a Gamay here before as a positive sign; which it really rather was. From the gorgeous purply red color to the smooth finish, this Gamay Cabernet blend is a winner.

The nose is what I would expect from a Cabernet; pepper/spice and red fruits. The spice is also the first thing you get on the palate; almost overwhelmingly so. Then, after you sit for a bit mulling through the tannins the fruit flavors make themselves known: raspberry, grape*, maybe a little plum. The label does not specify what the blend percentages are; but the very dry, acidic, and medium tannins make me want to say that, whatever the percentages, the Cabernet is the dominant grape.

This paired nicely with both Parmesan and cheddar. Despite the French origin of the grapes I feel tempted to treat this more like an Italian wine. It's got all the bigness I associate with a lot of Italian reds and I I don't think you'd go wrong pairing it with the same foods as you would an Italian.

I love cheese. Almost all of them really but cheddar remains my favorite. Specifically proper white, sharp cheddar. Which I could buy here if I wanted to sell my kidney or something to pay for it. So when L and I found a cheese booth at a Christmas craft fair in Inverness I was, needless to say, excited. Possibly a little too excited. L said you could see the vendor's demeanor change from 'friendly salesman' to 'oh dear this person could be dangerous; no sudden moves now'. I must admit my excitement over hand crafted cheddar likely seems disproportionate when you don't know that I live in a cheddarless desert. My Montgomery Burns plotting glee combined with my back injury and consequently odd posture and semi permanent grimace of pain did probably send the wrong message. After sampling several marvelous cheddars L and I both bought three (at 3 of 10 GBP). I got: sharp, caramelized onion, and garlic chive. I now regret not getting the chili as well.

I heartily recommend Damn Fine Cheese if you're in an area where it's sold or can be shipped to you.

*I know it seems odd to cite grape here. Wine is (usually) made out of grapes. But how often do you hear or read a wine description that actually mentions the flavor? Not often at all. Gamay is known to be a little grapey though.

Home Alone and Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

With almost two years in Turkey under my belt now I have learned that Istanbul is not as completely devoid of everything Christmas as I thought it was. There are actually quite a few places that sell Christmas trees, ornaments, and various other decorations. However I have decided to remain decorationless. Sherlock loves too much climbing the hanging closet organizers, wood support beams, my leg...I am not about to tempt fate with a shiny, sparkly, potentially fragile decorated tower of climbing wonder.

 However there are some Christmas traditions that can be celebrated wherever you are and regardless of your demon cat situation. The easiest of these...movies. I have a pretty extensive collection of Christmas movies and no Christmas is complete without the classic Home Alone. Yes, Home Alone. Macaulay Caulkin's 1990 masterpiece. My first Christmas away from home was 2002 when I was living in Taiwan. At the time I didn't own the movie, nor did I have any Christmas movies with me. Our cable package included several English HBO channels and the day Home Alone was on was my holiday low point. Even though my awesome mom spent a fortune sending me gifts and candy I was so depressed to not be home and to not be inundated with Christmas everything everywhere. That scene at the end when Catherine O'Hara has finally made it to Chicago and walks into the house to see it all decorated and the tree, you know that part, I lost it. Burst into tears and sobbed my way through the rest of the movie. Thank goodness it was already near the end. Low point.*

I keeps your DVDs warm for you

Crying over movies that aren't sad at all isn't the only great way to celebrate Christmas though. While not really a Christmas tradition, winter + holiday calories (which we all know don't count) is the perfect time to enjoy hot chocolate!

My dwindling supply of pb

 I love that people are getting experimental with hot chocolate recipes; although I question the taste of the person who invented lavender lemongrass white hot chocolate. No. But to the genius who decided to put peanut butter in hot chocolate, I tip my hat to you ma'am.

 Recipe: (slightly adapted from The Messy Baker)

• 1 cup milk*
• 1/4 cup heavy cream*
• 60 grams dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 TBLS cocoa powder (opt)
• 1 TBLS sugar (opt)
• 2 big TSPS creamy peanut butter

*vary  measurements depending on taste

1. Heat the milk and cream over low until hot to the touch or bubbles form around the edges. Do NOT let boil.
2. Whisk in the chocolate, cocoa, and sugar until everything is smooth.
3. Whisk in peanut butter.
4. Enter chocolate peanut butter Nirvana.

From now until the end of the Christmas season check in and see what other movies and hot chocolates with which we're celebrating!

*Remember the part when Kevin is walking down the street and his grocery bags break, spilling everything all over the sidewalk? His face is so perfect. We've all been there, Buddy.

Edinburgh - St. Giles Cathedral

Saint Giles Cathedral is the seat of the Church of Scotland, or more appropriately the "high kirk", in Edinburgh.

Dedicated to Saint Giles, the patron saint of Edinburgh (or the greatest Watcher ever!), the present church was built in the 14th century but the oldest sections are said to date to the 12th. Given its age it was likely a Roman Catholic church prior to the 16th century Reformation; we do make a mean church.

I love buildings like this; the combination of exposed stonework, light, and high ceilings make me feel like I'm somehow outside while still enjoying the protection of being inside. We saw several churches like this in Venice and they were my favorites there are well. From the class in Roman Architecture I did I know just enough to make knowing voices and say a word here and there that sounds architectural. One of the things I do remember clearly are groin vaults which Saint Giles has in spades so I was able to wax semi intelligently about them to L.

Luckily for me L was happy to wait on one of the benches at the entrance of the church and soak up its beauty while I scampered about taking pictures from every and any aspect I thought might be interesting. Including doing several back bends so I could get a shot of those very groin vaults. Which, now that I think about it, could possibly, maybe be what lead to my back problems. I really need to start doing yoga again.

While it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that, were it up to me, I'd turn Saint Giles (back) into a Roman Catholic church. However Catholic, COS, or anything in between, any service worshiped here could not do anything but glorify God. It's too beautiful and inspirational to do anything else.

This is a must see in Edinburgh. Unlike a lot of churches visited by tourists, Saint Giles does not charge an entrance fee, per say. They do ask for a voluntary donation which goes to the building's upkeep (I'm always willing to contribute to those things) but if you want to take pictures there is a fee of 2 GBP. Which is fascinating; I've never encountered something like that. You pay your 2 GBP, get a sticker to wear inside to show you've paid, and then you're free to take as many pictures as you like. I kind of think that's a great idea especially when you compare it to places like Rosslyn Chapel (coming soon!) and Saint Paul's in London that charge really high entrance fee and forbid photography completely.

Turkish Wine of the Week - The Suvla Surs

Last week I went to the Suvla shop in Cihangir for a bottle of Sur, completely forgetting that there were two. When I was stumped by which one to try first my friend there, Nusrat, suggested getting them both and comparing them. Never one to turn down a good opportunity to drink yet more wine I happily accepted his proposal.

Suvla makes two Surs, one a 2011 and the other a 2010. Both are blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot (although in different percentages). Let's begin, as I did, with the 2011.

A dense garnet red the nose was redolent with spice and blackberry. According to the description on the bottle I should also be getting mocha in the nose but in all my years of wine drinking I have never been able to detect coffee aromas. Ever. Since wine and coffee are my two favorite beverages I'm rather disappointed by this (although God forbid I ever encounter the Coke Blak version of wine-shudder).

The 2011 has medium tannins that slowly expand to fill the mouth. Don't get me wrong, it's not chewy in anyway and if you're not a tannin lover you still might like this. What I enjoyed about the tannins in 2011 is that they present like a wave; building up slowly, breaking over the tongue to fill the mouth, then receding to leave you with all the flavor and none of the cottony dryness that heavy tannins cause.

I think there's a little jamminess coming through with the Cabernet Franc. I know 'jammy' isn't a favorite descriptor for a lot of wine professionals but personally I love jammy wines so that was a plus for me. I'm curious as to the type of oak (i.e. American or French) used to age this wine and I really must remember to ask. There was a kind of, I don't know, maybe a smokiness to the flavor? It was faint but there and I wondered if it came from the oak.

Now the 2010. Wow. This was like two wines in one. My initial impression, after I picked myself up off the floor from the explosivity of the flavor, was of a vivid wine; tart and juicy with blueberries and prunes and a flavor as bright as its bright cherry color. A low tannin wine, it dances softly and elegantly in the mouth. 

But there's a second wine hiding inside. The more it opened the deeper and oakier it became. It was almost like being able to taste the aging process and again I would like to know what kind of oak Suvla uses.

2011                                                                                           2010

Merlot 57%                                                                           Merlot 50%
Cabernet Franc 22%                                                             Cabernet Franc 14%
Cabernet Sauvignon 19%                                                     Cabernet Sauvignon 34%
Petit Verdot 2%                                                                     Petit Verdot 2%

I really felt utterly decadent sitting all by my onesy with two glasses and two bottles.

I've never tried to compare two vintages of the 'same' wine. Probably I should have Googled a how to. But going by my taste buds, this is what I got:

2011                                                                                       2010

Jammy                                                                                   Tart/Juicy
Spice                                                                                      Spice
Med tannins                                                                           Light tannins
Velvety                                                                                   Bright
Consistent                                                                              Layered         

So after all that, where do I come down? At first I liked the 2010 better. I really loved the initial juiciness but my love affair kind of died as it opened and the oakyness became more apparent. In the end I surprised myself by coming down on the side of the 2011. The 2010 might go really well with grilled meats but I don't really have a lot of grilled meat laying around. What I do have is Parmesan* and chocolate. Especially the latter. Neither of those went particularly well with the 2010 but with the 2011...the Parmesan softened the spice and let the berry flavors shine and with chocolate...dude. The 2011 intensified the chocolate and made my 1 TL candy bar taste like premiere European chocolate. So I guess it's really a no brainer as to which I like better!

*This reminds me...on my recent trip to London L and I escaped the rain with lunch in an Italian restaurant off Leicester Square. I ordered the Carbonara (and we're all shocked of course that I was eating bacon like it were going out of style) and of course accepted the offer of freshly grated Parmesan. Our flirty waiter stopped to check on us a few minutes later joking that he just knew we wanted more cheese. I laughingly told him that with the price that I pay for Parmesan in Turkey he could stand there grating all afternoon. Five minutes later he sidled up to our table with a napkin wrapped package that turned out to be several pounds of Parmesan. L couldn't stop laughing about my 'tribute' (especially since it turned out that night was the world premiere of whatever the new Hunger Games movie is at the Odeon in Leicester). And he wouldn't even let us tip him. He's now my cheese boyfriend.

BTW - I accept tribute in all forms but cheese is definitely one of my favorites.

Edinburgh's Cemeteries

I love cemeteries, really I do. A lot of people find that strange but mostly my friends understand. Which is likely why they're my friends. So when I spotted several old cemeteries during our wandering I was quite happily that L enthusiastically followed me into them.

We found the Lincoln memorial quite interesting

I grew up not too far from a fairly old cemetery. There were a handful of burials from the mid-late 20th century but most of them were much older. My siblings and I would bike there during the summer and speculate over what killed everyone; especially the family plots that have five and more people all dying within a year of each other. Given that, it's probably not a huge surprise that I seek out cemeteries in new cities. The Jewish and Orthodox/mixed cemeteries in Belgrade have long been favorites. I have always believed that if you want to know the history of a city a cemetery is a good place to start; and so it is with Edinburgh's. The fallen tombs and lichen covered monuments only add to the beauty and ancientness of the city.

Calton Hill from the cemetery

Edinburgh Castle from a cemetery

Cemeteries are so peaceful; more so the older they are but even the new ones carry a sense of ease. I don't believe in vengeful ghosts and despite my great devotion to all things Joss Whedon, I'm also not terribly concerned that I'll be attacked by monsters in a cemetery (although thank you to Whedon in that, should that unlikely event occur, I believe I am well-schooled in knowing how to deal with the situation). I also don't think there's bad luck attached to cemeteries. Luckily neither do my parents who bought their plots during a buy one get one half off sale (seriously, this is true) when the Saint Michael's parish in my home town was first established; thereby leaving me with one less thing to worry about when they die. Fun fact: vaults are required in Michigan cemeteries so you can actually put anything in said vault. My brother and I have been after our dad for years to make old-timey coffins for him an my mom; something from which even my ever practical and happy to save money however he can dad seems to shy away.

Up next, churches! Specifically Saint Giles. The cemeteries seemed to be a nice segue.