Wine Tasting in Weisbaden

After sitting in traffic for FOUR hours the day before, the thought of driving two hours each way to Trier was a little very unappealing.  We debated on what to do and whether it was worth making the trek.  We woke up the next morning and just couldn't do it.  Mike happened to suggest this winery outside of Frankfurt that one of his professors happened to tell him about. It sounded like the perfect alternative to Trier.  We'd still get out and do something, but we wouldn't have to drive quite as far and we would still be able to get out of the house.

It was about an hour drive to the Kunstler Winery.  We arrived around 11:00, not really knowing what to expect.  When we walked in, we were greeted by a man speaking German.  There was a display table with clean wine glasses and a list of different kinds of wine they had to offer.  It soon became obvious that it was not just a normal day.  This was their spring debut!  What. A.  Coincidence!

We obviously jumped right in.  There were three different wineries there debuting their stuff, with the Kunstler Winery having the most to offer.  We didn't try every single wine there (I had to drive home and Karen had to work later), but we did make sure to taste at least one of each type.

They even had a whole schnapps table, but Karen and I didn't dare go near that! I bet it would have been fun though!

We both walked away with a bottle of white wine from the Kunstler Winery. If you ever see it on a menu or in a store, it's definitely worth a try! We didn't try anything that we didn't like and some of the wines were absolutely fantastic.  

Florence

It had finally arrived! The last day of our month long European trip!  We wouldn't and couldn't go out without a bang, so we decided to do a wine tasting with the scholar, Matt, and his wife Autumn who are in Florence.  We had spent the previous weekend with Matt at the reunion, but Autumn and their two daughters had stayed home for the weekend.  We met up with Autumn and Matt in the morning while the girls were at school at this beautiful winery outside of the city. 

Before we got to the actual wine tasting, we did a tour around the property with our guide, Gino.  Let. Me. Tell. You.  Gino is the man! He's Italian and married an American and lives on the property.  He was super knowledgeable about the wine making property, the history of wine making and just about anything. 

My man Gino!

He took us down into the wine cellars and showed us around there.  I've seen plenty of wine barrels, but it always amazes me how big they actually are. These things were huge!

After our tour, we settled in with a not-so-light wine tasting.  Not only was there wine, but there was a ton of food.  Gino had us sipping wine before we ate anything and then again after we had a bite of some food to see how it really changed the taste.  Sometimes, it was like two different glasses of wine!

After sipping on wine and eating way too much Italian meat and cheese, we bid our farewells to Gino and the winery and headed into the city.  We dropped our stuff off at the Bryants', where we would be staying that night and headed out to do a little sightseeing.  I don't remember coming here on our big Russo Italian Adventure, so it was like seeing the city for the first time.  Mike had been here in 2009, but he swears it's one of his favorites, so he didn't mind coming again. 

Our first stop was obviously the Duomo.  The Bryants live within walking distance (how amazing is that?!?!?), so it only took a few minutes before we stumbled upon this beauty.

It's as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside.

By the time we were done in the church, the sun was setting a little and it was the perfect opportunity for a stroll around the city. Florence is truly breathtaking with it's old, historic feel and the Arno River flowing through it.

Unintentional model pose

We met up with the Bryants at this Italian fusion restaurant.  It had a bunch of traditional Italian pasta dishes, but also had great alternatives.  Mike went for the steak (which I helped him out with) and we had no regrets on choosing that as our last Italian meal.

After a great meal, we all headed back to the Bryants' house, put the girls to bed and ended our month long trip exchanging stories of what it's like to be on this crazy adventure we call the Olmsted Experience. 

To end our month long trip with a quote that I think is very fitting....

"There is no food without wine and no wine without food." -Gino

Wine Tasting in Urla

After a busy weekend in Istanbul, we all wanted to sleep in and take it easy the next day.  We spent the morning just lounging around, which was perfect.  I needed that and I think Poorna and Mike did, too.  Finally, around noon, we got our act together and were ready for the day. Mike's classmate, Murat, came over and we all  headed out.

We park our car about a mile from our house in a garage since we don't use it that often and there isn't any parking on our street.  Once we got to the car, we realized that we needed to stop for gas along the way.  We applied and got a chip to put in our gas tank so we don't have to pay taxes on gas here in Turkey.  Turkey's gas prices are one of the most expensive in the world, so this was exciting.  We just got the chip and haven't used it yet, so this would be our first time.  You have to go to specific gas stations that have the special machine, so you have to be a little more conscientious of how much gas you have in your tank, but it's definitely worth the price break.

We set out towards the winery, while also looking for a gas station.  Mike got a little worried that we might not make it, so we pull over to a gas station and put in a 20TL worth of gas just to hold us over until we find a gas station that can fill us up.  We continue driving and find a gas station with the sign that says they can do it, but it turns out it's broken, so we continued on.   The gas station attendant directed us down a road about 4 km to another gas station that would be able to help us.  We finally found it and filled up, but I don't think we really got a discount.  We need to figure that out because gas is ridiculously expensive (it's like $100 to fill up our little Volkswagen Golf!).

After that rocky start to the trip, we were in need of some wine! Mike and I had been to Urla Winery before, but Murat and Poorna were newbies.  One of best parts of this winery is the view and the building.  They even have a couple of rooms there to stay in!  The tasting room and hotel is at the top of a hill that overlooks the vineyards.  It's breathtaking.

We all tasted a few reds and whites and walked away with a few bottles to bring back to our respective homes.  Mike and I also wanted to take  Poorna to MMG, which was a winery we went to when Kelly was here visiting.  Not only is the view incredible, but it's family owned and everyone is so friendly.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the son, who we hadn't met and the adorable black lab puppy that we met last time.  This time, though, the puppy wasn't a puppy any more.  He was probably 30 pounds heavier and definitely fully grown. This was the winery that also had the Kangals, which are the Turkish dogs who are around 250 pounds each.  A small horse.  After playing with the dogs for a while, we headed out to the deck where we were once again greeted with a stunning view.   The son brought out delicious grapes, cheese and crackers, as well as four different kinds of wine.  I think we were all fans of this wine and probably could have spent all day there.  Poorna, Mike and I bought wine before we headed back home.

I mean, really?  How is this real life?

Mike and Murat

I had to teach that night, but I knew Mike and Poorna would be fine hanging out for a little while.  They had talked about venturing out to a bar near our house and I figured I would meet them later.  When I returned from teaching, they hadn't left.  Instead, they had decided to drink wine and have heart to hearts while doing a puzzle.  I mean, I knew they'd be fine together, but they were complete BFFs by the time I returned! Ha!

Overall, it was a relaxing day of wine tasting and exploring the outskirts of Izmir.



***All photo credit goes to Poorna :)

Wine Tasting in Alsace

First, let me just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Ben! He's 18 today and probably more mature than my 27 year old self.  He's one of the coolest guys I know and he makes me extremely proud to be his sister every day.  He's definitely not one who likes to be the center of attention, but he deserves to be in the limelight for a day because he's pretty incredible.  Happy birthday, Benj! I love you and miss you!  Have a great day!

Thanks to We Are the Mitchells for a great photo of Ben and I

Mike likes to say that three of the most important women have birthdays three days in a row.  His sister, Kelly's is December 12th, Taylor Swift's is December 13th, and mine is December 14th. Saturday was the beginning of the birthday stretch and we celebrated Kelly's birthday (and mine a little early) with a full day of wine tasting!  

The Alsace region of France is known for their white wines, more specifically their Rieslings, which was completely fine with me.  I love a good, refreshing glass of white wine. Kelly did a great job of planning our day of wine tasting ahead of time and had three wineries for us to stop at throughout the day, as well as a map of how to get from place to place.  Love it! The wineries are about an hour outside of the city and we had our first tasting at 10:00, so we were up and out the door bright and early. 

Not a bad driving view, right?

Our first stop was the Domaine Bott-Geyl Winery, which was tucked away in the middle of a cute little neighborhood.  

We were greeted by a young woman who spoke great English.  We started out with Rieslings.  We tried four different Rieslings, which was really interesting.  Most of the wineries we've been to elsewhere have one bottle of each type, so you try a riesling, a cabernet sauvignon, etc.  Here, we were able to try four different rieslings, which allowed us to compare them, which was really cool and interesting. Sean was driving, but he still tasted most of the glasses before dumping them in the provided bucket.

We all really enjoyed their wines and both couples walked away with a bottle.  We set out for the second winery and passed by good old Lady Liberty. 

The second winery Kelly had planned for us was Dopff et Irioin and only about 5 minutes away.   Unfortunately, when we got close, we hit a TON of traffic, which was weird because it was in a tiny little French town.  What we didn't realize ahead of time was that there was a Christmas market in this town and people took buses and tours of the market.  This made finding parking impossible and we finally gave up our hopes of making it to the second winery.  Instead, we decided to head straight to Colmar, a town nearby, where we had planned to have lunch. 

Just like Strasbourg, there was a huge Christmas market there and tons of tourists.  We walked around the Christmas markets and grabbed pretzels and sausages for lunch, as well as some mulled wine and beer.  Colmar was super cute and a great little town in the middle of France.  I didn't think the Christmas market was quite as good as the ones in Strasbourg, but definitely worth the visit if you can make it work.

 After a few hours in Colmar, we headed to the last winery of the day, which was Domaine Paul Blanck.  We were greeted by a man in his 50s who was a self-proclaimed teddy bear.  He was so friendly and French and we spent the next couple of hours talking with him about wine, Turkey and everything in between.  He was a little sick with a cold, so when he would smell a bottle of wine to make sure it was still good, he would always scoff and say "My nose just isn't quite right" and then take the bottle to his father who also worked at the winery to see if it was still good.  It was wonderful!  The wine was also delicious and Mike and I walked away with a few bottles!

Overall, it was a great day of wine tasting and exploring.  I fell in love with the Alsace region of France.  It's geography is beautiful and the wine is delicious.  Plus, they really know how to do Christmas.  It was a great weekend in France! We had so much time exploring with Kelly and Sean and doing some wine tasting.  We ended our trip with a night at a wine bar with some cheese and charcutterie, which was the perfect way to end our time in France. 

For my birthday, Kelly gave me this book of 52 different wine trips to do.  Looks like we have a few new trips to plan!  Thanks Kelly!

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