Goodbye Gilamada, Hello Argos Nahita Emir
Back in the day when we were researching my book, E and I were invited to stay at Argos in Cappadocia. This fascinating hotel’s story began in 1996 when Gökşin Ilıcalı bought some land in Uçhisar on which to build his own house. However, while digging to set the building’s foundations, he unearthed the remains of an ancient neighborhood (mahalle). From that moment, his plans changed. Under the supervision of expert architects, historians, and the cultural and natural heritage preservation board, he spent years excavating and restoring the neighborhood. Now the hotel occupies 13,500 square meters with expertly restored and decorated rooms, event halls, restaurant, and a wine cellar. And if you have a few hundred Euros to spare every night, you can stay here too.
So, why am I telling you about a hotel? Because Ilıcalı is a wine lover who, in addition to Argos, established his own vineyards in 2003. Argos’s vineyards, Gülşehir and Sofular sit at an altitude of between 900 and 1300 meters. Here they plant native Anatolian varieties such as Kalecik Karası, Boğazkere, Emir, and Narince, as well as other well-known international varieties such as Shiraz and Chardonnay.
When E and I visited, we bought one each of the wines they had at the time. Then labeled “Gilamada” they were Emir, Kalecik Karası, and Shiraz. In the ensuing years, they’ve changed their label and name to Nahita but I’ve still only seen those three wines. Maybe we’ll see the other grapes soon.
Argos (in Cappadocia) Nahita Emir, 2019
No definite winemaking information about this. But I can fairly confidently assume that it fermented and aged in stainless steel, disliking oak as this grape seems to do. There was a flat softness on the palate (spoiler) that I don’t usually associate with Emir and may have happened during MLF (malolactic fermentation) but that’s a guess.
Very promising start to this wine. Emir is not an aromatic grape but generally has a distinct nose reminiscent of Assyrtiko or Riesling. Here sea spray highlighted citrus notes of lime, lime leaf, and caramelized lemon with the beginnings of petrol running through.
The palate was a let down after the nose. It’s had lovely flavors of green apple, grapefruit, and lime…but. It lacked intensity, acidity, and length. Flavors came and went pretty quickly and the low acidity made the wine feel like soft water on the palate.
The Argos Nahita Emir isn’t widely available. Really I’ve seen it only at Dekante and with the most recent price increase…probably looking at 350+ TL for it. In my opinion, nice effort but not worth the price.