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Top Turkish Red Wines to Beat the Summer Heat

 

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August is just about over meaning summer is winding down…but no one seems to have told that to the heat in Istanbul! For wine lovers who prefer red wine, summer can be a bit of a drag. But as the heat and humidity drag on, these are my top Turkish red wines to enjoy.

What makes them so great for summer? Generally light to medium-bodied, lively acidity, and they’re all okay to chill for 20-30 minutes before enjoying!

Buradan Fidan

Fidan from Çeşme-based winery Buradan is 100% Tempranillo. Made in the Spanish joven style, it’s what winemaker Tina Lino calls a “young Tempranillo.” Early harvesting, shorter maceration, and no oak aging all contribute to helping the wine maintain its freshness. We put this in the refrigerator the night before and took it out to both warm up a bit and breathe about 30 minutes before drank it.

The wine poured a purple-tinged ruby with aromas of strawberry, sour cherry, tobacco flowers, dried herbs, and leather. On the palate it was on the upper end of light-bodied with medium alcohol (12.5% abv), and structured with crunchy acidity. It showed mouth-filling flavors or red fruits, tobacco, dried herbs, and black pepper. Fresh and appealing, it was a great wine to drink slightly chilled

Organic farming. Slightly early harvest, no oak ageing – meant to be drunk young & chilled!

Likya Arkeo Merzifon Karası

Merzifon Karası is one of the rarer grapes in Turkey. It’s revitalization and repopularization is due largely to Elmalı-based winery Likya. Its Merzifon Karası, grown at an altitude of 1,100 meters, falls into the winery’s “Arkeo” series of wines made from rare grapes.

Bright purple-edged red in the glass, this wine is deceptively light-bodied but comes with a punch of 14% alcohol. So be careful with it! The color in the glass carries over into the nose with purple-red fruits like damson plum, raspberries, and cranberries all plucked straight from the earth. Or tree or however cranberries grow that Ocean Spray is always putting them in water…by which I mean there’s an accompanying earthiness and even fresh herb quality to the wine. Restrained tannins, lively acidity.

Edrine Merzifon Karası

Likya isn’t the only winery working with Merzifon Karası. Diren makes one as well but as an alternative to Likya, I prefer Edrine’s. Like Likya, Edrine’s grapes grow nowhere near Merzifon. Their vineyards are in northern Thrace near Edirne.

Incredibly pale in the glass, this bright ruby wine has a nose full of crunchy, tart red fruits like cranberry and sour cherry along with hints of laurel. Light-bodied with little to no tannin and bright acidity. Be careful with it though as it’s got a hidden punch with 13.5% alcohol.

Likya Arkeo Fersun

A handful of Turkish wineries, Likya Şaraplar included, have dedicated themselves to resurrecting forgotten Turkish grapes. With its Arkeo collection, Likya brings us three of these: Acıkara, Merzifon Karası, and Fersun.

Purple-ruby on the pour, the Fersun has a fruity character with spicy and floral details and savory notes. Aromas of pomegranate and blackberry mingled with violets and blackcurrant, bay, and tomato leaves. Black tea, cracked pepper, and cigar box added depth and savory aromas. Light-bodied with a mere 12% abv (low alcohol reds are unusual here). Vivid acidity made the wine sing with spicy flavors overlaying strawberry, pomegranate, and vegetal notes.

Büyülübağ Ada Karası

Alp Törüner, owner of the Büyülübağ Bağcılık Şarapçılık on Avşa island is passionate about the local grape Ada Karası. The only one to be working with this grape, Büyülübağ makes a rosé, a varietal red, and a blend with the grape. Today we’re talking about the varietal red. Avşa is a solid granite island sitting in the Sea of Marmara. Its decayed granite and sandy soils produce grapes that, in turn, create wines with an innate purity of character.

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 acidity with lowish tannins, the palate displays a lot of black fruit and black pepper flavors.

I reach for this wine time and again and can attest that not only does it do well chilled and with grilled summer foods, it’s also a nice drink on the beach! Unfortunately, it’s not the easiest wine to find. If you’re in Istanbul, look for it at Mensis Mahzen in Osmanbey.

Corvus Vinium

The main grape of Bozcaada, Karalahna might seem like an odd grape to include here. It’s high alcohol (14.4% in this case!), full-bodied, and sock you in the mouth tannins make it more of an autumn wine. And it is great in the cold weather! Buuuut…it is surprisingly good with a bit of a chill on it!

Medium opaque garnet in the glass with deep, rich aromas of dried fruit, date syrup, spice, and roses. Big ol’ tannins that you have to chew your way through but then the acidity kicks in with a wash of tart, fresh fruits like sour cherry, dried Bing cherry, pepper, clove, and nutmeg.

Ma’Adra Carbonic Maceration Öküzgözü 

Does anyone remember those instant oatmeal packs that came with “cinnamon brown sugar swirl”? No? Just me? The nose here shouted strawberry jam with brown sugar swirl. Cinnamon and clove add depth and eucalyptus comes in for a fresh, botanic lift. Öküzgözü, already not an overly tannic grape, seems ready made for carbonic maceration. Flavors of crunchy red fruits and caramelized banana compliment a silky mouthfeel that slides into a medium finish. Soft acidity and medium alcohol (13.5%) add to the almost luscious feeling.

Kuzeybağ Kösetevek

Another lesser-known grape here, currently vinified only by Kuzeybağ. Kösetevek’s medium body and alcohol (13.5%) are still not entirely out of place here although I have yet to actually try chilling this one. A veritable orchard of fruit on the nose with intense aromas of blackberry, plum, black mulberry, and cherry with hints of mushroom and moss. Lively acidity, and low-medium “friend zone” tannins. If the nose exhibited an explosion of freshly plucked red and black fruits; the palate offered a more retrained character with subtle threads of white pepper.