Exploring Turkey’s Island Wines
To kick off summer, I recently hosted an online wine tasting of some of Turkey’s island wines. Turkey has several islands which boast great seafood, nice beaches, old forts, beautiful scenery, and yes, wine! Many of the grapes grown on these island grow only on these islands. Happily for those of us in Turkey, we needn’t trek to the islands for the wines as they’re widely available on the mainland.
For the tasting, I selected five wines from four different wineries. Four grapes are native Turkish but one is a Croatian transplant. Yes. Croatian. You’ll have to read on to find out which grape!
Çamlıbağ AyaPetro Erken Hasat, 2020
We began with Çamlıbağ, one of the oldest wineries on the island of Bozcaada*. Çamlıbağ’s AyaPetro (Saint Peter) series includes this Erken Hasat, a pale rosé, and a red. This wine, the Erken Hasat is made from 100% Vasilaki.
Also known as Altınbaş, Vasilaki is native to Bozcaada. Generally a low acid grape, many wineries choose to pick it early while it still retains some acidity. In fact the name of this wine, Erken Hasat, means “early harvest”. Not a great oak loving grape, after its early harvest the Vasilaki fermented and briefly aged in stainless steel before bottling.
Alcohol: 12% abv
Appearance: deeper in the bottle but in the glass a very pale lemon, bordering on colorless
Nose: Light aromas of lemon and orange with a touch of white flower perfume
Palate: Early harvesting clearly works as this wine displayed bright, fresh acidity. Splashes of fresh lemon juice, lemon salt, and orange oil on the palate. This is a great grape to pair with the island’s seafood dishes and oil-based mezes.
Amadeus MMX Zlahtina, 2018
As you might have guess from its name, Zlahtina is not a Turkish grape. This grape hails from the Croatian island, Krk. And no, that’s not a spelling mistake. Sometimes ‘r’ is a vowel in Croatian and Serbian. Fun, no?! In Turkey this grape grows only in the Bozcaada vineyards of Amadeus MMX Wines. And why? The why is a sweet story.
After opening their family winery on Bozcaada, the current owner’s parents went on holiday to Europe and fell in love with some of the wines they had. Rationalizing that these were grapes from islands of a similar climate to Bozcaada, they wanted to see how they’d do in their own vineyards and so brought back both Zlahtina and Grillo (from Italy).
Alcohol: 12.9% abv
Appearance: medium lemon with green highlights
Nose: Super delicate, aromas of white flowers, pear blossom, pear, and a waft of musk
Palate: I’ve not had a Zlahtina actually from Croatia but have read that they’re generally wines you want to consume young, within one to three years. This was a 2018 so we’re at that three year mark. I’ve had this wine and this vintage from Amadeus before and enjoyed it much more than I did now so I fear it was a bit past its prime. The palate offered a medium body with some weight and medium acidity. The delicacy of the nose translated here with light pear flavors and a musky floral backbreath.
Çamlıbağ AyaPetro Kırmızı’dan Beyaz, 2020
For this wine, Çamlıbağ used warm climate-loving grape Kuntra (aka Karasakız). The grape originates in Çanakkale and grows largely (if not entirely) on the Gallipoli Peninsula and Bozcaada. Whether this is a blanc de noir (as the name indicates) or a pale rosé, the result of a direct press, seems like splitting hairs. Either way, it was a delight.
Alcohol: 12% abv
Appearance: very very lightly peach
Nose: Bright aromas of white fruit, cranberries, and peach Jolly Rancher
Palate: Bone dry with mouthwatering acidity. More peach Jolly Rancher and cranberry with splashes of lemon and touch of minerality. Fantastic beach/balcony/porch sipper but, like the Vasilaki, would pair well with a range of foods.
I know that says -we drank the 2016 but I was lazy
Corvus Vinium, 2016
Corvus’s Vinium is made from a grape called Karalahna which means “black pumpkin” if you believe the Wine Grapes book or “kale” if you speak Turkish. The grapes are big, round, and black-blue so I can see how it could get this black pumpkin moniker.
Alcohol: 14.4%
Color: medium opaque garnet
Nose: Dried fruit, date syrup, spice, roses
Palate: So much tannins!!!!! Very chewy, love love! Medium plus acidity and flavors of tart, fresh fruits like sour cherry, dried Bing cherry, pepper, clove, and nutmeg
I heard a nasty rumor that Corvus isn’t going to be making this wine anymore. While there are two or three other wineries working with this grape, this is my favorite and I hope that awful rumor really is just a rumor. Nice slightly chilled!
Büyülübağ Adakarası, 2019
While all the previous wines I featured in the tasting came from Turkey’s main wine-producing island Bozcaada, this grape is exclusive to a different island. Located in the Sea of Marmara is Avşa, a solid granite island. There, Büyülübağ is the only commercial producer of the grape Adakarası. And of course I had to include it in a tasting about island wines. A) I love it, b) it grows on an island, and c) the name means “black of the island”!
Alcohol: 14% abv
Appearance: bright, cherry ruby
Nose: Holy black pepper, Batman! Have you ever been pepper sprayed and though, “Oooo yeah, gimme more?” Okay no, probably not but that’s a little bit like experiencing the nose on this wine. Initially it’s mountains and mountains of black peppercorn. Swirling and daring to dive back in rewards you with clove and hint of rose petal.
Palate: Sandy, grippy tannins coat the mouth and don’t let go. The juicy acidity takes a minutes to break through that tannic wall before your mouth a awash in cherry and pomegranate and, of course, black pepper flavors. I love this wine, I always have a bottle, and Büyülübağ’s İris, a rosé from the same grape, is also worth checking out. This is a great summer wine as you can drink it lightly chilled and it pairs well with all manner of grilled foods.
*If you’re interested in Bozcaada, you can check out my recent piece for Turquazz about the island!