333 The Sexiest Wine in Turkey
Kırklareli-based winery Arcadia is not alone in cultivating Sauvignon Blanc. This French varietal maintains a spot as a major favorite here in Turkey. What sets it apart is the Arcadia 333. The sexiest wine in Turkey (but more on why later!).
While many turn up their nose to sweet wines, I staunchly remain a fan. Turkey offers a fair number of semi and sweet wines. Most of them are made with late harvest grapes while three producers, Corvus, LA Wines, and Gemici make passito-style sweet wines. Only one, Arcadia, makes a sweet wine with botrytis grapes. Something the winery never anticipated doing and, like all those who gamble with noble rot, only does it in years when their grapes become infected.
Rewind to 2009, the year of Arcadia’s first harvest. While inspecting their crop of Sauvignon Blanc they noticed that they grapes had shriveled and looked rotten. Quickly, the owners sent a panicked message to their viticulturist; wondering if they should destroy the grapes so as to not infest the entire vineyard. The response came swiftly. No! You’ve struck gold.
While I may have taken some liberty with Arcadia’s viticulturist’s response, I’m sure that’s what he meant.
That year and again in 2013, Arcadia created a sweet wine similar to the Hungarian szamaródni style, a mix of late harvest and botrytis-infected grapes.
“Üç yüz otuz üç”
So why name any wine, but especially a sweet wine, 333? I was so happy when I finally got to meet Arcadia’s owner Zeynep Arca and ask.
As it happens, the name existed before the wine. When they were deciding on names for their future wines, so that the names could be registered with the Turkish government, Zeynep chose 333 as a joke. Turkish film stars in the 1970s were taught to say “üç yüz otuz üç” when mugging for the camera. In order to say the phrase, which is actually a number (three hundred thirty-three), one must purse the lips. So if you say it correctly you look sexy.
At the time Zeynep laughed about the name and speculated as to what kind of wine they could make that would be sexy. When she found the botrytized grapes and they decided to make a noble rot sweet wine she figured it was probably the sexiest wine they’d ever make.
Arcadia 333 2009 Tasting Notes
Unlike the 2013 which is a half bottle, the 2009 333 was bottled in a regular format 750 ml bottle. I drank every drop. Albeit not in one sitting.
Burnished gold in the glass, the Arcadia 333 2009 practically dripped honey. Tropical fruits, candied pineapple, and apricot played with a delightful panoply of sweetly exotic spices in the nose. Very high alcohol (16.5% abv) and all that delectable residual sugar lent the wine a medium heavy viscosity. Viscous, but not cloying thanks to a racy, citrus zesty acidity. Candied ginger and grapefruit…well everything, fruit and peel, joined the aromas of tropical fruit, apricot, and honey on the palate.
I don’t do a lot with food pairings. Not because I don’t enjoy them (I do); more because the very idea overwhelms me with feelings of insecurity. What I do, however know, is that sweet wine plus spicy foods equals wine pairing heaven. I drank this wine with Cajun-inspired blackened salmon. It stood up beautifully both to the spice and the oily fatness of the fish.
Arcadia 333 2013 Tasting Notes
While the 2009 looked like gold that needed a wee polish, the 2013, on the other hand, glowed like gold in a smelter’s fire. Similar aromas and flavors to the 2009 but notes of lychee, light nuts, and ginger complemented the honeycomb, apricot, and pineapple on the nose.
Again here the wine had a high alcohol count of 16.5% abv and a weighty mouthfeel kept fresh by a streak of searing acidity. Orange bitters provided an interesting, but complimentary contrast to the stone and tropical fruit and spicy flavors.
Of the two I preferred the 2009. I still have a bottle of each hidden away though so we’ll see if, the next time I drink them, I feel the same!