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Crushing on Likya Öküzgözü

 

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The bulk of Öküzgözü in Turkey grows in the grape’s homeland of Elazığ in Eastern Anatolia. The most widely-planted Turkish black grape sometimes gets trucked hundreds of kilometers from Elazığ to other parts of the country for production. However, it’s not the most widely-planted grape for nothing. 

Öküzgözü now grows in, I dare saw, all eight wine regions. It has proven to be adaptable to a variety of soil types and climates. I have enjoyed trying Öküzgözü from different regions to see how these adaptations reflect in wine. 

Likya Şarapları is one of Turkey’s Mediterranean wineries. Although you wouldn’t know it when you visit! Located in Elmalı, it sits quite a bit inland from the Mediterranean Sea itself and high altitudes help keep humidity and extreme temperatures at bay. Rather than source grapes from Elazığ and bring them south, Likya plants its own Öküzgözü in the mountains surrounding their winery. 

Likya Öküzgözü, 2018

I’m generally a big fan of Likya. Mostly I love the Arkeo series with rescued Turkish grapes but I’ve also always had a fondness for their (also grown on site) Boğazkere. So when I saw they were making an Öküzgözü, I was immediately onboard to try this. 

I was also very attracted by the surprisingly low (for Turkey) alcohol content on this wine. Only 12% abv!!!

Bright ruby like freshly crushed cherry juice with a wide purple rim in the glass. The label didn’t indicate anything about oak ageing* but the first whiff made me think there might have been some. The nose gave off a certain unctuousness and syrupy mulberry even after 30 minutes in a decanter that made me wonder. Eventually the wine opened to reveal fresher mulberry and bramble fruit aromas. Imagine, if you will, berry picking in a forest after a rain that’s left the leaves and earth damp and you’ll get close to what I smelled! Violets and white pepper danced around the edges of my berry picking bouquet.

A silky texture carried with it flavors of bursting ripe berries, flowers, and spice. Juicy and exciting, this is a wine that walks the line between “crushable” and elegant. And food-friendly to boot! I paired this with zucchini fries and a garlic-thyme baconnaise-topped pork burger. Yum.

*My one major complaint about Likya is that they are one of the worst perpetrators for unhelpful labels. The back label of all their wines is the same and provides no technical information about the wine at all.