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Turkish Wine

HomeTurkish Wine (Page 49)

  Yes, Turkey makes wine! In fact, together with Georgia and Armenia, Turkey has one of the longest histories of winemaking. As far back as 1600 BC when the Hitites made wine for their religious ceremonies people have made wine in Turkey. Assyrians and later Christians also made wine for both religious and every day drinking purposes. In the late Ottoman period it was illegal for Muslims to imbibe or even make wine. Instead, many Muslims cultivated grapes they then sold to Greek and Armenian winemakers. However that all came to and end in the 1920s during the population exchange and many vineyards were abandoned. Paradoxically, despite its long history

  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 Winery or if another producer is just really excited about the grape variety. Öküzgözü Winery does produce Öküzgözü. In fact its flagship wine is a 100% Öküzgözü. However, the winery is also pioneering the return of another indigenous variety: Foça Karası. Rıfat Şekerdil, owner and winemaker of Öküzgözü Winery, has been a fixture in central

  Central Anatolia is famous for being the home of Cappadocia. Even if you’ve never been to Turkey you’ve probably seen pictures of the “fairy chimneys”, cave churches, and sunrise hot air balloons. But have you heard of the wine? Vinolus is a boutique producer in Kayseri, near Cappadocia, making unique wines from organically grown grapes. Oluş Molu, Vinolus’s charming proprietor, and her brother Aziz took over the family farm in the early aughts to create the first ecological farm in Turkey. Included in this project are the 50 acres (20 ha) planted to the native Kalecik Karası and Narince grapes as well as international varieties: Chardonnay, Roussanne, Shiraz, and Tempranillo

  Nestled in the Şarköy district of Tekirdağ (southern Thrace) is a small village called Uçmakdere. Prior to the population exchange of the 1920s this village, like many in district, was heavy populated by Greeks. It was the Greeks who established vineyards and winemaking in Turkey. With their departure villages like Uçmakdere went into decline. Without them most of the agricultural businesses, including wine, failed and villages died. Fast forward to 2012. Attracted to the history of winemaking in the region, the wine loving Bulutsuz and Gülbay families purchased a previously closed winery in Uçmakdere and modernize and revamp the facilities. Revitalizing Uçmakdere Firuze Winery does not boast any of its own vineyards. Consequently, they source grapes from local

  I am so pleased to say that I’ve had my first article on Culinary Backstreets published today! Culinary Backstreets does so much to bring attention to the stories of unsung food and drinks heroes who often get overlooked in favor of the fancy, trendy, and chain restaurants. They tell the stories of small family restaurants and hidden away gems known only to locals. By doing this, they highlight what many of us forget when we eat and drink out-the human element behind the magic. In my article, Grape Expectations: Finding Affordable (and Drinkable) Turkish Wine in Istanbul(click to follow the link!) I talk about some of the wine bars and restaurants

  MMG Winery, owned and operated by the Güner Atalay family began as a simple hobby. However, after friends and neighbors expressed how much they liked the wine, the family threw everything into creating a full-blown, professional winery. The MMG Winery and accompanying restaurant, ŞatoInn clings to the side of a mountain overlooking the rest of the Urla Wine Route. I would highly recommend getting a car with more cylinders than the little Nissan Micro Istanbites and I rented. Our car did not want to make it up the steep, winding road! I probably was also not giving it enough gas since I was convinced that any burst of power would shoot

  Seyit Karagözoğlu’s path to becoming a winemaker began in the early 90s when he started importing wine and beer to Turkey. While his career as an importer has made him a successful man, his interest has always lain with wine. He figured since Turkey was the 5th largest grape producer; more wine should be made here and he should be doing it. Thus Paşaeli was born. In 2002 Karagözoğlu planted his first vineyards in Kaynaklar, 20 kilometers away from Izmir. Since then he has acquired or planted vineyards in four other locations and cultivates nearly a dozen grape varieties. Of those grapes about half are not only native Turkish varieties but extremely rare

  Cenap And founded Kavaklidere in 1929 in the Turkish capitol Ankara. What started as a winelover’s dream to promote Turkish grape varietals has grown to become one of Turkey’s largest wine producers and exporters. Kavaklidere vineyards  encompass more than 650 hectares in seven locations: Aykurt, Côtes d’Avanos, Pendore, Kirşehir, Elazığ, Güney, and Kalecik and with a production capacity of nearly 20 million liters annually, it is not surprising that the company requires multiple production facilities. The main winery is still located in Ankara with smaller facilities in the north Aegean (Pendore) and Cappadocia (Côtes d’Avanos). Nearly 90 years after Cenap And began his journey to promote indigenous Anatolian grape varieties the winery continues

  To the surprise of many, there are over 100 wineries in Turkey. Some of them produce wine on a colossal scale and are known domestically and abroad. One of those wineries people don’t often know about (even here in Istanbul) is Claros. Claros Wines The Yavaş family first planted their vineyards in 2006. Five years later they produced their first vintage, really “just to see how it would turn out.” Initially they enjoyed their wine among friends and family. However, they soon realized that they had too much wine to drink themselves – as if that’s a thing! So in 2017, they founded Claros Wines. Claros is a Merlot-only vineyard and winery.

  Nif Vineyards might look slick and modern – in fact it’s one of the prettiest wineries here I’ve visited – but at its heart it’s a small, family venture. Started in the mid aughts by the Özcan family, the story of Nif Vineyards really belongs Gaye Özcan. She is the driving force behind the winery. Bottled Happiness Gaye grew up in Istanbul but her father’s family is from Izmir. Tired of the frenetic city and wanted to connect more to nature she chose to study agriculture at Izmir’s Ege University. While at school she decided she wanted to restart her grandfather’s farm (now planted with vineyards). As no one in the family had