Garova Vineyards Shiraz Petit Verdot
Nestled in a bowl-like cradle in mountainous Bodrum and nearly lost in the riotous greenery of the surrounding agriculture grow vines of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, and Zinfandel. This is Garova Vineyards. Despite being wheelchair-bound, owner Mehmet Vuran manages his 2.3 hectares himself. He’s also the winemaker.
Vuran turns out between 10,000 and 15,000 bottles a year. Some grapes he cultivates himself on his property (the Shiraz and Petit Verdot in question here included). He also brings in Öküzgözü grapes from the Denizli Plateau. In 2016 he converted to spontaneous fermentation for all the grapes from his vineyards; trusting that the care he gives the grapes on the vine is skillful enough to pull it off.
What wines of his I’ve had indicate he does indeed have the skill to pull it off!
Garova Shiraz Petit Verdot, 2017
Shiraz (or Syrah as you will) is the number one foreign grape planted in Turkey. Not only that, it’s one of the top three plantings of all the grapes here; meaning that pretty much everyone turns out a Syrah of some sort. How do you stand out such a crowd? For Vuran, that’s where the spontaneous fermentation and blending Shiraz with Petit Verdot come in.
Purple-edged ruby on the pour with animal and moss aromas over bright red berries, stable, and wet forest. Some breathing time further allowed deeper fruit and black pepper aromas to express themselves.
The palate showed a medium flavor intensity with persistent and three-dimensional tannins that coated the mouth but remained more velvety than aggressive. Largely woodsy in flavor profile with forest floor and bark flavors joining red plum and black pepper with a pleasant bitterness on the finish.
As a warm to hot climate wine, I was not surprised to see a 15% abv on this. Despite the high alcohol and cushy tannins, the wine maintained a nice balance.
I find that generally wines from Garova have these mossy and stable elements. From the spontaneous fermentation perhaps? It results in wines that lean a little more on the rustic than elegant side but I personally rather them.