Gizem on Wine

About Me

You'll find tasting notes and some travel impressions from a few years spent chasing bottles around Europe, still learning, all in. This isn't about trophies or scores; it's about how wine changes, resists, surprises, or flops.

Every post is a note to my future self. :clichéalert: Sometimes bottles disappoint, sometimes they delight. There's more joking here than drama, no need for every wine to tell a wild story. It's an open conversation: jump in wherever it goes.

Background

Wine hooked me at the table, not in the classroom. It started with curiosity about German Rieslings, especially the aged ones, and quickly spiraled into a full-blown obsession. During lockdown, I dove into side-by-side tastings, revisited bottles over several days, and geeked out on styles, vintages, and soils until patterns emerged.

I did my internship in Montalcino, crammed Champagne in Reims, poured as a sommelier, and hustled B2B and B2C with French wine. A student for life, I devoured WSET 3, and I'm eager to complete WSET 4. I'm a certified sommeliere too. Funny enough, I only started geeking out about wine a few years ago.

Wine takes me places, from Armenian and Georgian cellars to every European corner. My taste shifts with time because I love exploring new flirts, but I do have a few foundations. I adore saline Assyrtikos, Sangiovese, and Galician reds and whites, and of course, my acid love, Riesling. Over the last two years, I've found myself deep in Champagne studies, and yes, I enjoy drinking it just as much as studying it.

Tasting cult, tasting hype is also fun. FOMO? Yep, it's real. But I mostly crave tension and clarity in wine. And who am I kidding? I love juicy acidity. Rarely in my life have I ever said, "oh, it's too acidic." The bottles that shaped me aren't always famous. Brunello 2008 from Pian dell'Orino taught me finesse, 2004 Gatinois from Aÿ proved generosity has its limits, and Durst Silvaner 2021 showed me the power of purity. They all hit differently, and that's fine, because what I truly chase is conversation.

In short,
I go all in, study hard, taste slow (it's both my superpower and my struggle), talk through the glass, question the wine, and never settle for something boring.

Get in Touch

Questions about bottles, producers, or just want to talk wine? DM on Instagram is the best way to reach me.