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Turkish Wine

HomeTurkish Wine (Page 40)

  Located in Turkey’s Thrace, just a stone’s throw from several other wineries on the Trakya Bağ Rotası (Thracian Wine Route), Saranta produces quality wines under two labels: Saranta and Chateau Murou. The winery possess several features that set it apart; one such is the Saranta Öküzgözü. Saranta sources grapes from its own vineyards in Kırklareli as well as from other growers in the Thracian region. The origin of grapes used in member wines has been a point of contention among several of the Trakya Bağ Rotası member wineries. Some of the members feel that you cannot call a wine "Thracian" if the grapes do not come from Thrace. A

  Hidden away in the unwelcoming landscape of Turkey's north-eastern Aegean are the organic vineyards of Selendi Şarapları. The arid heat of Akhısar is not where one would expect to find the native Narince grape. This thin-skinned, delicate white grape hails from Turkey's Black Sea region where it thrives in the area's 1500+ meter elevations and mild, oceanic climate. And yet, it is exactly in this dry heat where the winery grows the grapes for its Selendi Moralı Narince. A combination of stony, loamy clay, and limestone soils make up Selendi's Moralı vineyard where they grow Narince at 850 meters. Narince may have its roots buried more deeply in the wet

  For this month's Wine Pairing Weekend, Nicole at Somm's Table invited us to write about wines from the ancient world. People often forget to include Turkey, which in fact is the home of the vitis vinifera grape, when talking about ancient and old world wine cultures. In fact though, it has one of the most ancient of wine cultures. When Christians hear the name, Antioch, it evokes images if Saints Peter and Paul preaching the Good News to early Christians. Historians may muse on the lives of early civilizations like the Hittites and those that came before. Modern Turks (and the rest of us who live here!) think of

  Akın Gürbüz grew up among grape vines. In his childhood he worked the harvest in his family's vineyards. They did not make wine but sold the grapes to some of Turkey's larger wineries. It was not until later in life that Gürbüz developed a love for wine. It was an introduction that not only began a love affair with wine but that would put him on his path. After studying at UC Davis, working in California and News Zealand-based wineries, Tekirdağ-based winery Barbare brought him back to Turkey. Working at Barbare opened a new chapter for Gürbüz. He became a winemaking consultant for some of Turkey’s premiere boutique and small

  The twenty-first century may still be fairly young but the wine world has already been rocked by a movement as big as it is controversial. Natural wine. While winemakers in several countries could argue that this is hardly new; much of the west treats it like a spanking new phenomenon. As we see natural wines popping up all over it seems to be a case of ‘better late than never.’ And now, the latest country to jump on the bandwagon is one of the oldest winemaking countries: Turkey. Where then, does Turkey enter this picture? Over the last 15 years in particular the wine industry in Turkey has leapt

  Müteşekkir is a new line from Chamlija, featuring a Pinot Noir, a red blend, and a white blend. Despite being an entry level wine (where I find many wineries slack off a bit) these show Chamlija's dedication to quality. Priced at about 55-60 TL (right around $10) this line offers a decent quality/price balance and a kicky little label. "Müteşekkir" means "thankful or grateful" in Turkish. Which I suppose we are that for decent wines at a decent price! That is something of a unicorn in Turkey. Chamlija Müteşekkir Blend 2015 Tasting Notes The Müteşekkir red blend combined Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot aged for 12 months in French

  Named for its elevation on the Güney Plateau, Sevilen’s 900 series includes three wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Fumé Blanc, and Petit Verdot. At 900 meters elevation on the plateau, Sevilen’s vineyards experience a large diurnal swing allowing grapes to reach full phenolic ripeness while retaining good levels of acidity. For that reason, these vineyards make some of the winery’s top quality wines. I love Petit Verdot. I’m pretty sure I’ve had every varietal (and most of the blends) Petit Verdot wines in Turkey. Generally I don’t like to say if I have favorites of anything but I can’t not admit that this has been my absolute favorite Petit Verdot. Sevilen 900 Petit

  Suvla Wines, on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula offers a huge range of wines. Currently the winery produces some 12 or 13 series. Many wines, like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Karasakız, and Yapıncak feature across multiple series which gives consumers the chance to compare single grapes across quality levels.  Unfortunately, the Cabernet Franc comes only at the Reserve level. A real pity as I would love to make a comparison tasting. Suvla Reserve Cabernet Franc 2015 Tasting Notes There's a lot of 'medium' happening with this wine: medium alcohol (13.5%), medium-bodied, medium (plus) acidity, a medium ruby color

  Öküzgözü Şarapçılık's name creates a bit of confusion. It is the only winery in Turkey named not after a family name or a vineyard but after a grape. Quite often when I see a wine with Öküzgözü written in big, bold letters across the label I can’t tell for a minute if it’s a new wine by Öküzgözü Şarapçılık or if another producer is just really excited about the grape variety. Öküzgözü Şarapçılık does produce Öküzgözü. In fact its flagship wine is a 100% Öküzgözü. However, in this post we're not talking about Öküzgözü. We're talking about another Turkish grape variety, Bornova Misketi. Misket is the Turkish word for

  As my wine tastings wind down, sometimes a few of my regulars stick around for a chat. More often than not when that happens, I'll take a break from cleaning and open another bottle to share. One night, I reached for a bottle of Shiraz made by a new winery none of us knew much of anything about, Bodrum Winery. I've written about Bodrum Winery a couple few times already, but never about my first experience with their wine. The very first of their wines I tried was the VinBodrum 2014 Shiraz and it was one of those wines I wish I'd saved for myself! Bodrum Winery VinBodrum 2014 Shiraz