Published by Jeremy.
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The more we get into trying obscure grape varietals, the more we are brought back to Turkish wines. First, because the country is home to many indigenous species. But second, they're also quite delicious!
So when we found Pasaeli's 6N Karasakiz in a local store, we knew we had to give this one a go.
While brighter and more vibrant than other Turkish reds we've had, this one hit on some light and fresh red fruit notes that we can always enjoy!
Karasakiz is a Vibrant Turkish Red Wine
This Karasakiz from Turkey was pale garnet in color with medium aromas of tart red cherry, watermelon rind, raspberry, pomegranate, stewed strawberry, thyme, sage, clove, and cinnamon.
On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, body, and flavor intensity, plus a long finish. We had notes very similar to the nose of red cherry, strawberry, raspberry (perhaps slightly candied), watermelon, cassis, pomegranate, clove, and black pepper.
Karasakiz Food Pairing – Mushroom Dutch Baby
We paired this Karasakiz with a Dutch Baby with mushrooms topped with a creamy miso sauce to see what rich and umami notes would do to the wine. The richness here really helped temper some of the tangy/candied fruit notes and brought out some more rich and earthy notes from some of the developing tertiary characteristics.
We also had a strawberry topped salad on the side and found that the pairing was a bit less interesting here as we only had heightened strawberry notes with some herbal pop in this particular pairing. Decent, but the Dutch Baby pairing was far more interesting.
Score: 3.5 / 5
We'd buy a glass of this one and another bottle in the right instance.
Overall, this Karasakiz was an interesting light red wine with medium characteristics across the board. For those who like bright and vibrant red wines, this is a grape not to overlook. We could always enjoy a glass or sometimes a bottle of this with the right pairing!
Pasaeli is located at İzmir Asfaltı Caddesi, No 47 / 2, Kemalpaşa, 35730 in İzmir, Turkey. We purchased this bottle locally and enjoyed it in 2024.
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