Paşaeli Old Vine Series
Established in 2002 by wine and beer importer Seyit Karagözoğlu, Paşaeli is, in my opinion, one of Turkey’s most valuable wineries. More than just creating quality wine, Paşaeli is of the Turkish wineries making huge efforts to revive rare and dying grape varieties.
While Paşaeli does turn out a couple of the Bordeaux-style blends that are endlessly popular in Turkey. I’ve had the Kaynaklar and K2 blends several times and they’re very good. But the heart and soul of this winery are the grapes you’ve never heard of. A big believer in growing things where they are native, Karagözoğlu set about collecting vineyards where Turkey’s native grapes thrive naturally. Paşaeli has vineyards in Şarköy, Hoşköy, Kaz Dağlar, and Çal where they cultivate native Sultaniye, Çalkarası, Karasakiz, and Yapıncak as well as extremely rare varieties like Sidalan, Kolorko, and Çakal.
Karagözoğlu obtained many of Paşaeli’s vineyards with the grapes already planted and quite a few contain vines decades old. In order to highlight not only the native grapes therein but also the vines 
themselves, the winery debuted a new series of “old vine” wines last year. The series includes two wines, a Yapıncak and a Çakal.
Paşaeli Old Vine Yapıncak 2018 Tasting Notes
Yapıncak has a nickname: Kınalı Yapıncak which means “hennaed Yapıncak” because this golden-green grape often develops copper colored spots. Maybe that little bit of extra color makes its especially suited for color extraction? In any case, Paşaeli’s Old Vine Yapıncak, which comes from vines at least 50 years old, underwent nine days of maceration. The resulting color was not orange orange, but more the color of straw baked under an August sun.
I often find that Yapıncak wines have a somewhat restrained aroma but not so here. Aromas of golden quince, grilled lemons, and lemon thyme rose from the wine like they wanted to introduce themselves. On the palate, the alcohol remained fairly low at 11.5% but subtle tannins helped round out the wine and give it more of a medium-bodied heft. Flavors from the nose were joined by citrus peel and orange on a medium long finish.
Paşaeli Old Vine Çakal 2018 Tasting Notes
Karagözoğlu found this grape while looking for Sidalan. He noticed some “red” clusters amongst the white Sidalan clusters. Çakal is Turkish for “jackal” and the grape earned its name because it ripens earlier than other grapes. So when the jackals come down from the mountains they eat these, the sweeter, grapes.
The Çakal for this wine comes from forty year old vines. This wine differs from the winery’s Çakal rosé in that while the rosé underwent a mere eight hours of skin contact, the Paşaeli Old Vine Çakal macerated for seven days. Seven days! And yet due to the paleness of the grape’s skin, more of a gris than a red, even after seven days the color remains a fairly pale red-pink. The nose was pretty shy, reluctantly giving up aromas of summer fruits, cherry syrup, and bitter greens. Sipping revealed flavors of mineral-tinged red berries and citrus pith. Dry, medium-bodied with 13% abv and a hint of tannin. I must admit that I preferred the rosé!
If you are lucky enough to find any of Paşaeli’s more unusual wines grab them quick! The small production means they’re not easy to get your hands on but are absolutely worth the effort.