Heritage Grapes of Turkey: Akın Gürbüz Cinsault
Nihat Kutman, founder of Doluca Winery, was one of the first in Turkey to revive vineyards and winemaking after phylloxera destroyed many of the country’s vineyards. Thanks in large part to that epidemic, many of Turkey’s native grapes were lost. As a result, nascent wineries in Turkey’s new Republic relied on grapes from Europe to restart vineyards and wine production. In the mid 1930s, Nihat bey returned from Europe with several grapes that would go on to become, if not wide-spread in the country, heritage grapes with which a small handful of wineries still work. One of those varieties was Cinsault.
We don’t see a lot of Cinsault here anymore. In the upper Marmara, Uçmakdere uses it for a rosé and Akın Gürbüz uses it in a rosé blend and varietal red. It’s also grown in the inner Aegean by Selendi (Manisa). 
Akın Gürbüz Cinsault, 2019
Gürbüz’s Cinsault grapes come from vineyards located in Gazıköy near the Sea of Marmara. This coastal strip of land, bordered on one side by Mount Ganos, is especially suited to viticulture with its fertile and well-watered soils wherein lie extensive clay deposits. In fact, viticulture has flourished here since at least the Byzantine period.
After languishing in French oak for 13 months, it spent yet more time resting in bottles before Akın released it. This 2019 was his first varietal Cinsault bottling and netted, I believe, only about 600 bottles.
The deep, intense ruby color of the wine indicated the wine’s personality before I even got my nose in the glass. Then, when I did…wow. I know we’re not supposed to call wines “sexy” anymore but, if the shoe fits… An aromatic bouquet of fruit flowers with plum, raspberry, and ripe strawberry mingled with sweet spices and vanilla, violets, a hint of black tea, and notes of milk chocolate. Powerful concentration with big tannins, lively acidity, high but balanced alcohol (14.7%), and delicious fruit.
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