Finding Your Niche with Buradan
The Zero Kilometer food trend that began a few years ago involves restaurants that source ingredients from their immediate area. In many cases this often means not only getting produce and other products from local farmers but growing and producing everything in an onsite restaurant garden. This trend gained popularity for a variety of reasons: it supports local agriculture, ingredients are always fresh and in season, and because the resulting food both expresses a sense of place and is appropriate for that place. It was this sense of locality that spoke to Türgay Gümüş when he founded his winery, Buradan, in the coastal village Çeşme outside Izmir. “Buradan” is a Turkish word that means “from here;” a concept he adopted as the philosophy behind his winery.
Owning Your Place in the World
Çeşme, on the Aegean coast, is a popular destination for Turks and internationals alike. The resorts, sandy beaches, and clean water attract vacationers and surfing enthusiasts by the droves. To meet the demand of hungry beach-goers, restaurants, cafes, and bars have sprung up all over Çeşme and nearby Alaçatı. According to Tina Lino, part of Buradan’s winemaking duo, the most popular wine consumed in all these restaurants is Chateau d’Esclans’ Whispering Angel rosé. Gümüş and his winemakers considered all these factor when they determined what kind of wine they would make.
The winemaking team behind consulting company Vine Project, Italian winemaker Tina Lino and Turkish winemaker Sinan Hun started this quest to make a locally appropriate wine in the vineyard. Lino, who has a doctorate in viticulture planted grasses to help build up the poor soils and farms largely organic. In the vineyards the team uses sulphur and Bordeaux mix but no herbicides. According to Lino the vineyards are “…not natural, but minimal intervention. I am not a fundamentalist.”
This philosophy follows the winemaking team from vine to wine. Buradan’s wines are generally low intervention wines with low 
sulphides. The pair wants to ensure that the wines reflect the place and grape and not them as winemakers. Buradan’s 1.4 hectares currently produce only two wines (with a third debuting in the near future). The two wines, Şirin and Fidan, honor more than simply the winery’s place in Çeşme but also Gümüş’s family. Şirin, the first wine they produced, he named for his wife. Fidan, which debuted a year later, he named for his mother.
Buradan 2016 Şirin Tasting Notes
Şirin is a 100% Grenache rosé wine. There are many methods for making rosé but they all start with black grapes. Most of the time, these are grapes grown for making both red and pink wine and are all harvest at the same time; at the height of ripeness with high sugars and (sometimes) low acid. For Buradan’s Şirin, the story is a little different. They grow 
the Grenache they use in this wine specifically for making a rosé. That means they harvest it early when sugars are a little low but acids are high.
The resulting wine was an intense, sunset orange-pink. It began with peaches and berries, herbs, and mineral. Clean with delicate fruits, fresh herbs, and a finish reminiscent of sea spray. Bone dry, light plus body with 13% abv, fresh, lively, and far too easy to drink. The 2016 here was the first vintage of this wine. I’ve since had the (unreleased) 2018, 2017, and again the 2016. I was happy to discover not only consistency over the vintages but that it also has aging potential. Since its release the 2016 has deepend and taken on earthier flavors.
Buradan 2017 Fidan Tasting Notes
The Fidan on the other hand, is 100% Tempranillo. It’s what Lino calls a “young Tempranillo.” Early harvesting, shorter macereation, and no oak aging all contribute to helping the wine maintain its freshness. Fidan is meant to be drunk young and even slightly chilled. That it’s not meant for aging in no way detracts from how great this wine is though. 
Fidan is good straight out of the bottle but letting it breath for an hour or so really teases out its depth. Red fruits like sour cherry start things off then slide into tobacco flowers, dried herbs, leather, and animal. Sipping revealed juicy fruits, dried herbs, and tobacco. Structured tannins, crunchy acid, and low alcohol (12.5%) kept it fresh and easy as well as interesting.
Both fantastic summer, or frankly any time of the year wines to drink alone or enjoy with food.
If you’re in Turkey finding these two wines isn’t overly difficult. Unfortunately it’s a different story abroad. However, The House of Burgundy in New York does import Buradan’s wines. While most of its inventory goes to Momofuko, you might be able to get a bottle of two from them.