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Shiluh Mazrona, Your New Unicorn Turkish Wine

 

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The first place I saw the Shiluh Mazrona was, of course, Instagram and I felt giddy with excitement. A Mazrona! All on it’s own (or at least 85% on its own if they adhered to the law)! Often found blended with its regional white grape partner, Kerküş, Mazrona is already a rare sight. But to see it vinified solo…never before. Naturally I embarked upon a quest to find and got nowhere. Then, as luck would have it, I managed to get a glass of it at a wine bar. From there I tracked it to popular Pangaltı wine shop, Gözde Tekel, where I got their very last bottle. 

Have not found it again since.

Shiluh

Taking its name from the Syriac word for “peace,” Shiluh is Turkey’s largest commercial Assyrian-style winery. Although now they have major competition from Midin Şarapçılık!

Based in Midyat about 100 km from Mardin in the extreme southeast of Turkey, Shiluh (which also goes by Süryani Şarabı) carries on the winemaking tradition of Christian Assyrians. But in a modernized way. Until recently, Assyrian wine remained largely a family by family project. People sourced grapes from home gardens and made traditional wines at home to share with friends and family. Then in 2008, wishing to share this part of their culture outside the community, members of three Assyrian families: Gabriel, Aktaş, and Aslan, created a commercial winery to produce such wine.

Shiluh sources grapes from its own vineyards as well as from contracted growers to create its wines. The winery uses largely only indigenous Turkish grapes: Boğazkere, Öküzgözü, Mazrona, and Kerküş. Some of the grapes come from vines that are more than 50 years old. 

Shiluh Mazrona, 2019

Because it is relatively rare, I don’t have as much information about Mazrona as I would like. What little I do have comes from consulting winemaker Saba Açıkgöz. According to him, the grapes are thin-skinned, non-aromatic, terroir sensitive, and (in some cases) grow in vineyards that are between 200 and 300 years old. Yeowza. 

Brilliant, cool lemon with subtle green highlights in the glass that reflected the notes found on the nose. Aromas expressive of citrus and herbs with lemon verbena, charred lemon, and a suggestion of flint. A broad palate with a touch of oiliness balanced by lemony acidity. The palate delivered a more floral character moving from bright lemons to perfumed white flowers, all with a trace of crushed gravel.

To read additional Shiluh tasting notes, more about the Assyrian wine traditions, and my visit to Mardin, click here!