A New Bornova Misketi for You: İkidenizarası

July 31, 2022ByAndrea Lemieux 1Turkish Wine, White Wine, Wine Reviews

Okay, well new-ish anyway. I first tried the İkidenizarası Bornova Misketi last fall when I saw their wines at La Cave in Cihangir. İkidenizarası is a new (again, new-ish) winery in the Urla district of the Aegean, Izmir region.

Between Two Seas

İkidenizarası means “between two seas” and, while both of those seas are the Aegean, the winery does sit on the Urla peninsula putting it between two different sections of the Aegean. It’s also conveniently located just a stone’s throw from the Urla Bağevi Vineyard Hotel (one of my favorite places in Urla) in the Yağcilar village.

In 1999, Serhat Akbay began experimenting with vines and making wine here. In due course, his friends Nevzat Sayın, Prof. Dr. Sait Ada, and İbrahim Dilan joined his venture. By 2015, they’d finalized which grapes to cultivate (all organic). In 2017, winery construction began and in 2019 the final piece fell into place with the addition of Semril Zorlu (one of Turkey’s talented female winemakers) cemented the winery’s future.

I really like their website. Their ‘about us’ page includes a number of question/answers that, I personally, like to know about a winery. Such as:

What are the grape varieties grown in your vineyards? Answer: There are 32 decares of vineyards belonging to our brand, but our total vineyard size in Yağcılar village is over 100 decares. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petit Verdo grapes are currently grown in our vineyards.

Where do you buy grapes that don’t grow in your vineyards? Answer: For our white wines produced under the name Borda, we buy Bornova Misket from Menderes and Chardonnay from Denizli.

Turkish wine What is your annual production level as a boutique wine producer? Answer: Our annual production capacity is 40,000 bottles. We produced 12.000 bottles in 2020. In the next 5-6 years, we can move to full capacity.

The winery has released five wines including a Bornova Misketi, Chardonnay, a Cabernet-Syrah rosé, a Cabernet-Syrah (red) blend, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I have bought only the Bornova Misketi and likely that’s how it’ll stay. We all know how I feel about the oceans of French grapes in Turkey.

İkidenizarası Bornova Misketi, 2020

İkidenizarası’s Bornova Misketi fermented until dry in stainless steel tanks. The grapes, as we learned from their website, come from growers in Menderes, not their vineyards. Does that mean they grew organically? That’s not a question the website addresses.

Pale, silvery lemon-lime on the pour, the wine released some typical Misket aromas of orange blossom, rose, and citrus…and a surprise hint of Anaheim pepper! Medium-bodied with 13.5% abv, the wine had some decent weight and acidity on the palate. Highly floral as expected with flavors of sweet lemon. Nice, but simple. I think there are other examples of Bornova Misketi that show more expressiveness.

It did pair very nicely with food. I made seared salmon seasoned with dried mango and kaffir lime leaf powders and topped with pickled ginger. On the side I served an Ottolenghi two bean and two lime salad.