If you enjoy trying new Turkish wines and eating cheese, then this is the deal for you.
Every Friday, usually only during the winter months, the Four Seasons Hotel in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul offers a wine and cheese tasting. This lovely event offers you the chance to try different Turkish wines while noshing on a splendid display of cheeses and olives. Now, this is my idea of a good time!
Earlier this month, we made a reservation and took our U.S. friends to the Four Seasons' wine tasting event. We've been before and enjoyed ourselves silly so much so a taxi was required to get home instead of the nearby tram.
When the four of us went, we tried a wine flight featuring a white, one rose and two reds produced by B�y�l�bag. This Turkish wine producer apparently is known for its Bordeaux-style wines. We certainly favored the cabernet sauvignon, which has won some international awards according to the company's website.
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| The four wines we tasted at the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet. Of course, you can ask for refills on your favorite ones. |
Just like the wine-producing island of Bozcaada, B�y�l�bag was founded, by Alp T�r�ner, on another Turkish island, called Avsa Adasi (Avsa Island), located in the southern Sea of Marmara. The winery is located in the middle of the vineyards and can produce up to 200,000 liters of wine a year. Sounds like we need another road trip! (Has anyone been here?)
There also was a wine rep from B�y�l�bag that stopped by our table. At least I was able to tell her in Turkish which wines we liked more and that the wine was "�ok g�zel."
In addition to the wines, we filled ourselves up on the bountiful cheeses, jams and Turkish olives.
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| The cheese buffet included about 12 different kinds of cheeses. I was in heaven! |
I especially enjoyed sampling a rather spicy cheese curd from the Hatay/Antakya region called ��kelek served in a rosemary Turkish olive oil bath. Yum!
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| Please excuse the blurry photo from my phone - at least you can see what the spicy cheese curds look like. At first, we thought this was a bowlful of meatballs! =) |
Afiyet olsun!
For your own fun Turkish wine and cheese night, you must make reservations by calling 0212 402 3156. Cost is 40 TL per person for the wine flight and open cheese buffet.
Each week, the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet features a wine flight from a different producer, grape or region.
We found B�y�l�bag wine available at:
Sensus Wine & Cheese Boutique,B�y�khendek Caddesi No. 5 Kuledibi, near the Galata Tower