Büyülübağ Ada Karası 2015
I have not explored Büyülübağ’s wines as much as I should have. My first introduction to them was with one of their Vedat Milor* wines. It wasn’t until one of my first all Turkish (language, not wines) tastings group that I really discovered these wines.
It was Christmas Eve and Alp Törüner, founder of Büyülübağ, lead us through a vertical tasting of his Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Törüner’s family has had a huge French influence, two of his aunts are French and brought a lot of French culture to the family; including the practice of drinking wine with meals. This is why he decided to work largely with French varietals.
Despite this, his goal is to make more widely known Turkish varietals and to improve their quality. As the only winemaker on Avşa 
Island he is also the only producer making wine from the local variety, Ada Karası. And it is about the Ada Karası that we’re talking today.
Büyülübağ Ada Karası 2015 Tasting Notes
The Ada Karası is a light-medium bodied wine with 13% abv. The nose on this jeweled garnet colored wine is intense with eucalyptus, black pepper, and black fruits. Think black cherry and blackberry. Racy acid with lowish tannins, the palate displays a lot of black fruit and black pepper flavors.
Mr. Törüner seems to not believe that he has quite yet perfected his Ada Karası. If and when he does get it any more “perfect” though I will be thrilled to try it because I quite liked this one the way it was.