Barbare Elegance GSM
Flipping through my wine notes recently reminded me that I haven’t written about my favorite pirate-themed winery lately. Well, okay no, Barbare is not pirate “themed” (although wouldn’t that be cool?!). However, the winery does take its name and label design from Turkey’s most famous pirate, Barbarossa-Red Beard. If you’re curious about how that came about, check out my previous post about wine and piracy!
Its dubious swashbuckling aside, Barbare sets itself apart from other Turkish wineries in how it was influenced by French wine. A good deal of wineries here take their influence and cues from France. Specifically from Bordeaux. And while Barbare demonstrates a strong French influence; it’s one that comes from somewhat east of Bordeaux…Rhône.
Sure, sure Barbare produces Cabernet Sauvignon (and very nice Cab too) but it’s hallmark are wines made from Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. The winery bottles small amounts of varietal Grenache and Mourvèdre, but its two blends, Elegance (premium) and Ambiance (mid range) are more easily found. As I’ve previously tackled the Ambiance on this blog, this post I am dedicating solely to the Elegance.
Barbare wines use all organic grapes grown on site its vineyards in lower Thrace. For this wine, it blends together Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre and aged for 18 months in French oak barrels.
Barbare Elegance, 2010
Medium intense ruby with a pale rim in the glass, this wine was meant for ageing. Deep aromas of earth and animal rose from the glass before peeling back to reveal cracked black peppercorn, bitter chocolate, cigar box, and prune.
Despite the high alcohol, (14.5% abv) there is nothing aggressive about this wine. Rather it really lives up to its name! A silky texture slipping across the tongue carried an odyssey of flavors. Tobacco flowers added perfume to flavors of prune and chocolate before sliding into a long, spicy finish.
Barbare Elegance, 2012
Medium intense ruby in color, this is not a shy wine at 14.8% abv. Turkey does seem to really love its high alcohol wines.
We have these dried strawberries here in Turkey that are not the thinly sliced, freeze dried strawberries, more a semi-dried affair that produces slightly sticky, über sweet strawberries. Both those and strawberry jam hit the nose initially. Then dried herbs, black and pink pepper corns, and leather express themselves adding savory notes to the bouquet.
And if Turkish dried strawberries weren’t enough of an esoteric description I’m about to add another. Sipping revealed tannins that felt like deer antler velvet. Which is a real thing (lots of hunting in my family). Medium plus acidity accompanied the tannins and flavors pretty faithfully reflected the nose. Elegant with a long finish of old leather, this is one of my favorite blends here.