Your June 2026 Turkish Wine Horoscope
As is usual for Istanbul, we seem to have skipped right over spring and jumped with both feet into summer. I am not built for summer. Neither is my non air conditioned apartment. At least I have a wine fridge (conveniently located next to my couch, I can actually pull out wine without getting up which maybe tells you a little too much about me) so, even if I’m too hot, my wine isn’t.
Which brings us to the most important question…what are we all drinking this month? Read on to find out.
And remember, if you’re not somewhere with easy access to Turkish wine, don’t hesitate to reach out (to me, the universe doesn’t always respond to email) for alternative recommendations.
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
You’ve developed a dangerous amount of confidence in your ability to “wing it,” and are being tested on that theory. Scheduling mistakes and overlooked details aren’t catastrophic, but they’re just enough chaos to humble you slightly. The good news is you’re weirdly charming under pressure. People forgive you faster than they should.
photo by Fine Turkish Wine
Power Move: Improvising your way through the mess
Your Vibe: Reckless competence with excellent recovery skills
The wine for you …
“Recklessly competent” is possibly one of best dubious compliments I’ve ever encountered. You’ve got a sort of ‘when life gives you lemons’ thing happening for you. Some wineries adopt that attitude as well. Something might go wrong, but they make the best out of it. Like Sobran. Sobran planted Nebbiolo in Manisa which, no matter how lovely Ercan bey is, I still think is weird. He realized that the first vineyard he planted wasn’t producing grapes that could do well in red wine. Instead of ripping them out, he made lemonade. Figuratively speaking.
This June, drink the Sobran Nebbianca. That vineyard might not have been right for red wine production, but it does just fine for producing a blanc de noir.
Look for Sobran wines at Mensis Mahzen, I feel I’ve seen them at Gözde Tekel…they must be elsewhere. Drop me a message if you’ve seen them around!
Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
Someone around you keeps trying to rush a decision that absolutely does not need to be rushed. You, meanwhile, are moving at the speed of “I’ll think about it and get back to you next Thursday.” Correct instinct. June rewards patience and punishes desperation. Watching other people panic while you remain emotionally horizontal becomes part of the entertainment.
Power Move: Refusing to be rushed into anything
Your Vibe: Comfortable, stubborn, impossible to pressure
The wine for you …
Patience is absolutely needed to make good wine, especially if you’re trying to make botrytized dessert wine like Arcadia’s 333. Firstly, they have to wait patiently for botrytis, aka noble rot, to infect the grapes. That’s not something that happens every year and it is completely out of their control. Then, they have to patiently and carefully harvest each shriveled grape individually. This is not a kind of wine that can be made by rushing.
Look for this in places like La Cave, Rind, Perest, İyi Şarap, Mensis Mahzen, and elsewhere…but look for it soon because Arcadia hasn’t been able to make this for several years now and likely won’t have any until, best case scenario, the end of 2027! So what you see in the shops is all that there is.
Gemini (May 20 – June 20)
You accidentally become the person everyone tells their business to this month. Useful information just keeps falling directly into your lap. Secrets. Office drama. Relationship nonsense. Half the time you aren’t even asking questions. June turns you into an unwilling detective with excellent hair and increasingly concerning levels of insight.
Power Move: Knowing more than people realize
Your Vibe: Socially slippery with dangerously good instincts
The wine for you …
It can be terribly frustrating and downright annoying when someone knows something you don’t. Although quite delightful when you’re the one in the know. However, the best people share information. For example, who among us knew that Emir and Roussanne would be good blending partners?! I can’t say that it ever even occurred to me to ponder that. Thankfully, that question was pondered at Vinolus which then shared the information with us so that can all delight in the Vinolus Emir Roussanne.
Increasingly easy to find, you’ll likely see it at La Cave, İyi Şarap, Mensis Mahzen, Grand Cru, Dekante, and Casa Botti all seem like likely suspects as well.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
Your tolerance for emotionally immature behavior hits an all-time low. Someone tries to communicate through hints, mood swings, or passive aggression, and you suddenly feel one hundred years old. But you no longer have the energy to decode nonsense that could’ve been expressed in a normal sentence.
Power Move: Requiring honesty from the start
Your Vibe: Emotionally fluent and deeply unimpressed
The wine for you …
Just as you’re over trying to decode someone’s idea of “communication,” you’re also over trying to decode wine labels. Filled with buzzwords like “reserve,” “natural,” “limited filtration,” and “boutique” that have no legal definition or, in many cases even industry-standards, how do you know what you’re getting and whether it’s worth the extra price tag these words often command? You lean on wineries and wines that rely on quality instead of buzzwords, like HUS Bornova Misketi.
Get this places like La Commune, Perest, Gözde Tekel, İyi Şarap, Kav Mistia, Solera, Comedus, etc.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
You keep convincing yourself you’ll “deal with it later,” which would be a solid strategy if later ever actually arrived. The problem is that future-you is starting to get irritated with present-you’s management style. Tiny responsibilities keep circling back with increasingly hostile energy until you finally handle them out of pure annoyance. The satisfying part is how competent you become the second you stop resisting basic effort.
photo by Akberg
Power Move: Finally dealing with what keeps following you around
Your Vibe: Slightly chaotic but fully capable when necessary
The wine for you …
I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone who defines “chaotic but capable” quite so accurately as Güney Köse, the owner of Akberg. Güney has ideas coming out of his ears and seems to bounce all over the place with everything he wants to do and implement. Thankfully, that chaos doesn’t show up in the wine.
Red wine, this one especially, might be a bit much for June. But then as a Leo, you’re a bit much too and will probably appreciate the full-bodied Akberg Lethe Boğazkere regardless of current weather.
Look for this at places like Solera, Grand Cru, and Le Conte.
Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
You’re starting to realize that some people hear advice as criticism no matter how gently it’s delivered. Tragic for them, honestly. June teaches you to stop over-editing yourself for people committed to misunderstanding you anyway. Save your effort for conversations that actually go somewhere productive.
Power Move: Letting people misunderstand you without chasing them
Your Vibe: Sharp and increasingly unavailable for nonsense
The wine for you …
No nonsense. That’s where you are this month. Other people’s idiocy is just not worth your time. You also don’t have the time or patience to faff about with wineries that deliver an uneven performance. This month, pull the cork on the Selendi Gülpembe. Selendi’s wines are always solid. There’s no faff happening here.
Although speaking of no faff…this wine has a new label now. Selendi, like Vinkara, went through a label redesign recently and…well they’re not better.
Get it from İyi Şarap, Carrefour, Macro Center/Migros, Mensis Mahzen, Casa Botti, Kav Mistia … it’s not hard to find.
Libra (September 23 – October 22)
You keep thinking you’ve made a final decision about something, then immediately reconsidering after one slightly persuasive conversation. Exhausting behavior, honestly. Stop outsourcing your instincts to whomever spoke most recently. Your first reaction is usually the correct one before outside opinions start redecorating it.
Power Move: Trusting your own read before polling the audience
Your Vibe: Thoughtful with flashes of unexpected decisiveness
The wine for you …
The combination of excellent instincts and thoughtful action is killer (in a good way). Paşaeli has that kind of energy. This winery seems to always have the instinct for not only being first, but being right about what will work and what will hit the market well. Pair that with thoughtful winemaking and, well, there’s no real need to say more.
This month, try one of Paşaeli’s thoughtful and successful wine experiments and hunt down a bottle of the Sıdalan, Karasakız, and Çakal co-ferment.
Find it at places like Casa Botti, Dekante, Perest, Mensis Mahzen, Gözde, Comedus, Solera, Grand Cru, Santé Wine & More, İyi Şarap, etc.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 22)
Someone is trying very hard to figure you out, which becomes less flattering and more irritating by the day, dramatically increasing your desire for privacy. The more questions people ask, the less interested you become in answering them. Mysterious by nature. Unreachable by choice.
Power Move: Keeping parts of yourself inaccessible
Your Vibe: Private and impossible to pin down
The wine for you …
You are inscrutable, hiding under your exoskeleton, but that’s not necessarily how you’d describe a wine you’d like to drink. No, no, you want heart on the sleeve and playing with an open hand like Akın Gürbüz. This month, look for a bottle of the Gürbüz Sauvignon Blanc, especially if you can find a bottle of the 2025. Efsane. The explosive flavors of this remarkable vintage might even crack that shell of yours a little.
You might find it at places like Mensis Mahzen, Casa Botti, Rind, and İyi Sarap, probably Grand Cru, Dekante, etc.
Sagittarius (November 23 – December 22)
You’re beginning to suspect that freedom means something different than it used to. Not smaller. Not more limited. Just less chaotic. June pushes you toward choices that make your life easier instead of more dramatic. Honestly, stability is starting to look a little sexy to you, which should concern everyone involved.
Power Move: Choosing consistency without feeling trapped
Your Vibe: Restless but finally developing better taste
The wine for you …
Your June wine hits on multiple fronts! The Arda Kuşlu series proves that you can have both consistency AND good taste. Honestly, you can never go wrong with a wine from Arda. Pick up a bottle of the Arda Kuşlu Sauvignon Blanc for this month. All the better if you can find the new vintage as 2025 is the best year yet for Arda’s white wines.
Arda’s wines are generally fairly easy to find. Try places like Casa Botti, Dekante, Rind, Mensis Mahzen, occasionally Carrefour, larger tekels like Gözde and Savoy, etc.
Capricorn (December 23 – January 19)
You’re discovering that some rules are fake. Not legally, unfortunately. Some people are making things up as they go and succeeding anyway. Your attachment to doing everything the “correct” way starts loosening fast. A shortcut or less exhausting method works suspiciously well and honestly changes your entire outlook.
Power Move: Taking the easier route without guilt
Your Vibe: Less rigid and significantly harder to exhaust
The wine for you …
Unfortunately, there aren’t really any shortcut in making good wine. One thing that might possibly fit the bill is harvesting early. You’re not waiting for the whole ripening period so it is shorter. But it’s not a shortcut in the way the word means. Early harvesting is a conscious decision a winemaker makes. In the case of the Çamlıbağ Ayapetro Erken Hasat, it’s because of the grape in question, Vasilaki. As it ripens, Vasilaki quickly loses acidity. Waiting all the way through the growing season to harvest might result in flabby wine. So, Çamlıbağ harvests early and creates a refreshing, light wine, perfect for summer.
Pick this up at places like Mensis Mahzen, Gözde Tekel, İyi Şarap, etc.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
You’re having a hard time pretending to care about conversations that clearly go nowhere. Small talk feels physically exhausting. You find yourself craving sharper minds and interactions that don’t feel like a hostage situation disguised as networking. Your social battery improves immediately once you stop forcing connections that bore you.
Power Move: Disengaging from empty interactions quickly
Your Vibe: Intellectually restless with selective social energy
The wine for you …
You need to focus on this you actually care about this month. Take a page from Kuzubağ’s book for inspiration. They’re whole winery was founded because of how much the Kuzu family cares about raising the reputation of Çal as a wine region. Between their beautiful winery, the lovely Çal Karası wines they produce, and being a leader of the Çal Bağ Yolu, they show how much they care. This month, see why they care so much and open a bottle of Kuzubağ Çal Karası Blanc de Noir.
Get this from places like Casa Botti, Comedus, Mensis Mahzen, Perest, Gözde Tekel, and Rind.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
You keep catching subtle shifts in people’s behavior before they say anything out loud. Different tone. Delayed response. Slightly weird energy. Normally you’d spiral privately and invent seventeen explanations. June gives you the rare ability to simply ask what’s going on like a fully regulated adult. Huge personal growth moment.
Power Move: Addressing tension before it turns into fiction
Your Vibe: Intuitive without getting lost in your own imagination
The wine for you …
You have to love a winery that senses what people want and gives it to them. Bodrum’s Mor Salkım can read its audience well. They want a beautiful vineyard (check), a great visiting experience (check), perfectly drinkable wines geared to local cuisine and environment (double check), and wine that isn’t overly expensive (check!). This month, hunt down a bottle of the Mor Salkım Voalnte Narince Emir and get a taste (haha pun) for how the winery responds to what people want.
Sadly, I don’t see a lot of Mor Salkım in Istanbul. Mensis Mahzen often carries it. Gözde Tekel has a sometimes surprising selection so you might find it there. I’d be curious to learn if anyone has seen it elsewhere, drop me a comment if you have!
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