Five Turkish Roses to Try this Summer
Certainly we live in strange times now. I was one of those naive people who thought, or at least hoped, we’d achieve normalcy by summer. That’s definitely not happening; especially not here in Turkey. Turkey never did a proper quarantine. We had half-assed weekend lock downs for a few weeks before grumbling about the failing economy had even those lifted. Masks are now mandatory at all times. Less than half of people wear them properly or at all. Whatever social distancing people obeyed in the beginning is merely a memory. Weekend boats to the Princes Islands are as beyond capacity packed as ever. We have between 7,000 and 10,000 new reported COVID cases a week.
Normalcy, or whatever passes as that here, still lies a long way off.
Despite, or perhaps because of this, I am trying to participate in regular activities as safely and responsibly as I can. I started the WSET level 2 course, I’m continuing my Greek language classes, and I’m still giving wine tastings. All online of course. A friend’s birthday was Friday. He’s not having a party this year for obvious reasons. But I still popped ’round to his place anyway to deliver the sweet potato pie and candied bacon ice cream that I promised to make for him pre-COVID.
While summer has not brought the hoped for end to the pandemic, it has brought warmer weather and with that, an explosion of new rosé wines to the market. Below are a few new rosés to enjoy this summer (preferably from your home/balcony/terrace/garden and not out and about).
Chamlija Rose de Strandja, 2019
For its 2019 Rose de Strandja, Chamlija blended native Turkish grapes Papaskarası and Kalecik Karası with Pinot Noir. They pressed the grapes carefully over a period of five hours to gently extract juice and limited skin contact during initial fermentation to ensure a delicate color.
Alcohol: 13% abv
Color: exceptionally pale and pretty peachy salmon
Nose: Delicate with flowers, tea roses, raspberry, and wild strawberry
Palate: Somehow drinks like a white wine! Flavors reflect the nose for a restrained and elegant palate. Added to those are flavors of citrus, pink lemons, and mineral. Dry, light-bodied with noticeable and mouthwatering acidity and a medium finish.
Sevilen Innocent Angel, 2019
Brand, brand new from Sevilen this year is Innocent Angel. You just have to see the bottle to want it! Great label, fun glass stopper closure (I’ve only seen that once before in Turkey), an alluringly pretty color, and a fascinating blend: Sauvingon Blanc and Syrah. We have a few instances in Turkey of blending red and white wine to make rosé. However, Sevilen’s head winemaker Sibel Çoban took a different approach.
Innocent Angel is a 50/50 blend of late harvest Sauvignon Blanc and early harvest Syrah that were co-fermented and aged sur lie for three months prior to bottling.
Alcohol: 12.5% abv
Color: delicate pink
Nose: Summer strawberries exploded from the glass along with aromas of currants, passion fruit, grass, and black currant leaf.
Palate: This was…wow. Just wow. Fans of New Zealand Sauvingon Blanc rejoice! This might be a 50/50 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah but it’s like two Turkish parents got together and made a Kiwi baby. Bone dry, light-bodied, with lively acidity and a flavor profile as pronounced as the nose. Wild strawberry, currants, passion fruit, and grass joined by a streak of jalepeño on a zippy citrus finish.
Arda Kuşlu Rose Blend, 2019
Arda’s Kuşlar series previously included a rosé made from Shiraz. The winery still makes that as well, but this year debuted a new rosé which blended together early harvest Papazkarası, Gamay, and Shiraz grapes made into a rosé using the saigneée, or bleeding, method.
Alcohol: 12% abv
Color: intensely pink, more a pale red
Nose: Strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, adder of roses, mint, and eucalyptus
Palate: On the palate the wine was dry and light-bodied but it felt like the acidity got a little out of control. Although the in-your-face level of acidity would make this a great wine for food, I imagine. Palate flavors reflected the fruitier notes from the nose along with lemon salt and roses.
Gürbüz Mood Roze, 2019
Gürbüz Winery recently released a new line of wines called Mood. The Mood Roze blends native Turkish grapes Kalecik Karası (40%) and Papaskarası (30%) with 30% Cinsault and six months sur lie aging before bottling.
Alcohol: 13.1% abv
Color: medium orange-salmon
Nose: Nectarine, peach, melon, with hints of cranberry, thyme, and tarragon
Palate: Dry, with medium acidity and body, the wine fell a little short on the finish but was such a delight to drink. Crisp and fruity, the palate showcased many of the flavors sensed on the nose. Nectarine and peach particularly were elevated with savory details of tarragon.
7Bilgeler Lasos, 2019
The blend of 7Bilgeler’s Lasos rosé changes a bit from year to year. My personal favorite remains the 2018 blend of Shiraz and Kalecik Karası. For 2019, the wine still contains Shiraz but changed up the blend to include also Merlot and Petit Verdot.
Alcohol: 13.7% abv
Color: peony pink
Nose: Wild strawberries, pomegranate, pink pepper, and eucalyptus
Palate: Crisp with flavors of the red fruits promised on the nose and with added flavors of lemon and lemon pith. Very dry with a medium body, lively acidity, and a mid palate weight.