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An Exploration of Heritage Grapes in Turkey #WinePW

 

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This month, I am hosting the #WinePW group’s exploration of heritage and traditional grapes. I will attempt to host a chat on Threads tomorrow, Saturday, November 11 at 8am PST / 11 am EST / 7 pm Istanbul. Well, I mean, I will be hosting one. How successfully I shall do so remains to be seen!

Heritage grapes in Turkey

Heritage, or traditional grape varieties are those that have been grown not in their native land for a long time. Think Zinfandel in America (or really any vitis vinifera in America!), Shiraz in Australia, Pinot Noir in Germany, etc. How long is a long time? Well…the internet tells me 300 years is “what most experts agree on”.

The heritage grapes in Turkey may not have been around long enough then to qualify them as being “traditional”. Although I heard a rumor there’s a document somewhere talking about Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot being grown in Thrace “for the palace”. I have yet to find proof. That aside, several European grapes have grown in Turkey since at least the 1930s and have become well-established as part of the viticultural scene here. Some are new plantings, but some come from 80+ year old vineyards!

Interestingly (to me anyway) most of these varieties, like Semillon, Gamay, Cinsault, grow only in the Thrace/Marmara areas where they were originally planted in the early 1900s. 

Barel Vineyards Gamay, 2019

Barel Bağları was founded in 1997 by the Akın family with the aim of adding a little bit more taste to life. Even the winery’s name reflects the family approach being a composite of the Akın children’s names: Barkın + Elif = Barel.

Barel’s vineyards are located in an area that is 1-2 degrees colder than the typical Western Thrace Terrace allowing for a longer growing season. Tinny top soil covers layers of calcium and red-rich anodised soil with blue clay. The 100 hectares are separated into two parcels; the first inclines from east to west and the second north to south.

Gamay was a new grape to the winery which previously focused on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. My experience with Gamay has been with the lighter French wines. But Turkey does like to make heavy wine so there are some chewy Gamay wines floating around here. Fairly deep and opaque in the glass, Barel’s Gamay presented aromas of black pepper and green stick upfront with red fruit, touches of animal, and sandalwood following. The bottle gave no indication of oak ageing and I didn’t sense anything on the nose or palate that would suggest heavy, if any, use. The palate offered flavors very similar to what I sensed on the nose, but with a jammier fruit profile. Smooth and silky with friendly acidity and 13.5% abv.

Since my grapes weren’t native Turkish, I decided that my food should be! And because I’m lazy, I ordered in a selection from one of my favorite Turkish restaurants: lahmacun, içli köfte, sour cherry kebap, kisir, and a new to me meze consisting of dried figs, sundried tomatoes, walnuts, and some sort of sauce. 

There wasn’t a mind-blowing pairing here, but the wine did very well with all of them!

Gürbüz Late Harvest Semillon, 2021

I’ve written about several Turkish Semillon’s before, but this is the first sweet one we’ve had. Akın Gürbüz (who’s wines are available in NY and soon in TX!) studied at UC Davis, spent time working in vineyards in CA before going to New Zealand to study Sauvignon Blanc. After returning to Turkey, he worked as winemaker and consulting winemaker for a number of the country’s best wineries before achieving his dream of opening his own winery. He expands a little more every year and now Akın makes wine with a breadth of native and international grapes.

This sweet Semillon, a combination of late harvest and botrytis grapes from a vineyard in the upper Marmara, is his first Semillon. The grapes had a sugar level of 391.69 grams per liter at harvest and 52 g/l residual sugar after fermentation. Aged gently in neutral barrels, the wine achieved an impressive 18.1% abv! A beautiful pale golden color in the glass, the nose surprised me with it’s savory character. Beeswax detail with notes of dried chamomile flowers and petrol around a core of yellow fruits frames by a firm and racy acidity. Lovely.

I went full dessert pairing with this choosing two of my favorites. It did okay with the künefe if the wine did slightly overwhelm the dessert. The star of this pairing was the wine with çıtır tatlı kabak. Literally, crispy sweet pumpkin*, the dessert is dressed with tahini and crushed walnuts. The tahini, which I worried might be a problem, actually really brought out the fruit in the wine. 

*Perhaps one of the odder to foreigners desserts in Turkey is this selection of “crispy sweet” vegetable desserts. Pumpkin is the most common but you can also find tomato, walnut, and eggplant. 

What other traditional varieties are there?

Don’t forget to check out what the other #WinePW crew members are sharing this month!

• Culinary Cam shares: A Geography Lesson + a Taste of Bulgaria: Bob Chorba and a Blend of Mavrud and Rubin from Thrace
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator is contributing: Ancestor: Heritage Halter Ranch with Heritage Hamburgers
• Terri from Our Good Life is talking about: Don’t Let the Grape Fool You: Bordeaux from Toscana
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares: Getting to know Cinnabari from Dracaena
• David from Cooking Chat gives us Pairings with Halter Ranch Wines
• Andrea from The Quirky Cork presents: An Exploration of Heritage Grapes in Turkey