Advent Wine Blind Tasting Five!
Should I decide to do a homemade Advent wine calendar next year I’m going to rethink a couple few things. One…not 26 bottles! Rather than a bottle a day I’ll “make do” with one every other day. My wine consumption already concerns my mother but this one wine per day thing is even getting to me. Two: fewer blind bottles! I thought this such an excellent opportunity to give myself this rare challenge. But I got too enthusiastic about it. The boxes contain far more blind bottles than not and I’m having trouble working up the enthusiasm for it every day.
Changes for next year then. But this year I shall continue to plod along with the calendar as is. Which means another blind bottle today. I’m guessing this is more of an entry-level wine that possibly had some oak assistance-if not barrel-aged then with chips or artificial flavoring. Moderate alcohol, cool to moderate climate, Öküzgözü. Final answer.
So how’d I do? Well, apparently I don’t know European wines at all but I can sure as heck pinpoint a Turkish grape!
Küp Şarap Thia Öküzgözü, 2019
If there is a grape equivalent of a breadbasket, then it is Denizli in Turkey’s Aegean. Even for a Turkish wine enthusiast the sight of vineyard after vineyard after vineyard stretching across the plateau can be startling. Of course the vast majority of these grapes go into products that are not wine. Table grapes, raisins (which are exported), and molasses come from these vineyards. However, a few of these vineyards do belong to wineries. Küp Şarap has made wine here since 1959.
Thia is one step up from Küp Şarap’s entry level wines (Fiona). This Öküzgözü did not age in oak but I would be curious to learn if it has “assistance” from chips or otherwise.
Appearance: medium opaque, clear, purple-ruby
Alcohol: 13.5% abv
Nose: Rich and ripe with blackberry-mulberry fruits, damson plum, brown sugar/vanilla, pumpkin pie spices, and clove.
Palate: Medium-bodied with medium acidity and low tannins. Slightly sour. There’s a hint of the fruit from the nose along with some pomegranate and black pepper but the palate lacks the richness and there’s an unpleasant green stick bitterness. Definitely a bit of a bait and switch.