Warm Feeling With Winter Wines

If you're unsure of the meaning, winter wines are those that are preferred during the cold winter months and that will help take the nip out of the air, giving you a toasty warm feeling all over. These are wines that are considered full-body and lush, as opposed to the light and refreshing wines you would enjoy during the summer months. If you're a wine lover, you understand the appeal of the wines of winter, and find that they're easily preferred over the standard winter beverages of hot cocoa or tea. Sure, those are all well and good, but how do they taste with a fine selection of cheese and olives?

When considering your options, you would probably prefer an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon or an earthy Chateauneuf-du-Pape. These are both complex wines with a hearty aroma and reassuring body. Neither needs to be very expensive, as they are both typically very fine choices regardless of vintage or name brand.

Reisling is another fine choice when it comes to winter wines. While still crisp and fruity as you would expect from a summer choice, it is intense with a typically rounded finish - perfect for those late winter lunches when you've slept in decided to spend all day inside. While still served slightly chilled, it's a perfect match for seafood or shellfish, or for when you want to just nibble some cheese in front of the fire.

Consider a good port as another choice when it comes to hearty wines. Aging these in wines in oak barrels means adding distilled grape spirits, often cognac, in order to boost the alcohol content. White port is also a good choice, and is served cold or slightly chilled; these range from dry to very sweet. Port is such a popular choice when it comes to winter wines that there are actually rules of etiquette that once surrounded its serving; typically the bottle is passed "port to port," meaning that the host pours a glass for the person to their right and then passes the bottle to their left; this is repeated until the bottle makes its way around the table. Of course, if it's just the two of you, it may be a good idea to be a bit more modest about this practice and save some for later!

Burgundy wines are also fine choices for winter, as they are typically the heaviest or most full-bodied wines there are. If you're looking to stay away from chilled wines and want something to keep you warm that's not too sweet but still full of flavor, burgundies are probably your best choice.

Winter wines are good options for the cold months when you're looking to try something new and want to get away from the overly fruity and sweet wines of summer. When you're stuck indoors and are looking for ways to keep yourself warm, you should definitely give your wine tasting some renewed attention with any of these options.

Your Finest Turkish Wine

It is probably a rare wine drinker that walks into a fancy restaurant and tells the wine steward, "Bring me some of your finest Turkish wines." The country of Turkey is not typically known as being a producer of fine wines and isn't always given the respect and regard that it deserves because of its wine production. However, once you start to learn a little bit about wines from Turkey, you may find that indeed it would be good if your favorite restaurant began serving this choice!

Interestingly enough, wine drinking was actually banned in Turkey for some 500 years during the rule of the Ottoman empire, but fortunately for us today wines from Turkey have made quite a comeback and are being rediscovered by wine connoisseurs around the world. Also, because the country is now looking to be more competitive economically, wine growers are realizing the importance of producing a product that is palatable to a worldwide audience. What makes them so high-quality?

The Climate of Turkey

One of the reasons that Turkish wines are so high quality is because of the climate of the country. Their warm and dry Mediterranean summers and mild winters make for some of the best grape harvests there are. Even inland away from the Mediterranean, there are pockets of wine producing regions, some more successful in grape growing and harvesting than others.

Grapes Grown in Turkey

There are actually some 1,000 different grapes that are grown in Turkey, but the vast majority of them are used for fruit or raisins. Only about 40 types of grapes are made into Turkish wines. However, these grapes include many local types, including Bogazkere, Kalecik Karasi, Karasakiz, Çalkarasi, and Öküzgözü for the red variety, Emir, Narince and Sultaniye for white wines. With the fourth-largest vineyard area in the world, but with such a small percentage of those grapes for wine growth, it is no wonder that the few wines they produce need to be of the best quality.

Looking Forward to the Future

Despite the one-time ban on wines from Turkey due to religious taboo, they are now becoming more competitive on the worldwide market and because Turkey is looking to compete on a global scale both economically and culturally, the future can only hold good things for their winemakers. While they may have some catching up to do when it comes to being competitive with their nearby countries, it's likely that Turkey will appreciate the natural gift they have of a beautiful climate that is perfect for grape growing and winemaking. Certainly the future holds only good things for those who love and appreciate Turkish wines.