Get to Know the Grape: Yapıncak
Yapıncak (ya-pin-juck) is one of Turkey’s great, underappreciated grapes. Capable of producing a wide range of wine styles, from simple and refreshing to traditional method sparkling, I for one really don’t understand why so few wineries use it. Especially for all those wineries located in the Marmara region that told me “well there really are no native grapes here;” ahem. Yapıncak.
Granted, the Yapıncak grape can be tricky to work with. In the vineyard it’s prone to low yields even in good years however, while the grapes are very thin-skinned they have good disease resistance. Grown in the Marmara and Aegean regions around the Gallipoli Peninsula, Yapıncak grapes are tiny which also means they produce less juice. Low yields + not a lot of juice means you need a fair few grapes to make a decent amount of wine. Yapıncak is also known as Kınalı Yapıncak. “Kınalı” is Turkish for “hennaed” and refers to the copper-colored freckles the grape can develop. While the moniker may seem cute, dealing with grapes that have developed them is less so. These freckles add a bitterness to the skins so if grapes are pressed too aggressively the wine can take on an astringent-bitter flavor.
Its continued existence is down to the few wineries that use it. Paşaeli released the first varietal wine in 2010, Two years later, Suvla followed with its own. Now both wineries offer several wines made from Yapıncak. Paşaeli, that great champion of native Turkish grapes, produces two terroir-specific wines, a lightly oaked version, a skin-contact (amber, orange, however you like to call it) wine, and now a Pet-Nat! Suvla offers a two still wines and a traditional method sparkling wine. A few years ago, Sevilen also has rediscovered the value of the grape and produces a Yapıncak wine from an old vineyard in Şarköy that the winery doesn’t own but from which it sources grapes.
A semi-aromatic grape, it produces wines with mineral, olden apple, pear, quince, citrus, and floral characteristics that take on vanilla and creamy flavors with oak ageing. Stylistically, Yapıncak is available in it’s “pure” form (i.e. stainless steel fermented and aged), as a reserve style aged in oak, skin-contact, and traditional method sparkling.
Food Pairing
Because Yapıncak can make wines that run the entire gamut of white wine profiles including fresh and lively, round and creamy, skin-contact, and sparkling, the sky’s the limit for food pairing as long as you’re taking the wine’s style into consideration.
For the fresher, more simple styles try pairing it with salads, light vegetables, and light seafoods, and white proteins (chicken, pork). Go nuts with flavoring your food with lemon! Try a white pizza with caramelized lemons. Toss some peaches or avocado in a salad. Soft and semi hard cheeses will go well here too but stay away from cheeses with really strong flavors. Think young cheeses like mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone, etc.
For a Yapıncak raised in oak you can make pairings similar to what you’d do for an oaky Chardonnay. Heavier proteins, creamy sauces, risottos, and more robust vegetables like pumpkin and squash, mushrooms, lentils, and grilled fruits. Flavor your foods with brown spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Have fun with almonds and walnuts! Try a galette with herbed goat cheese topped with sautéed white pork sausage and pears, baked, then drizzled with honey. A slightly oaky Yapıncak will stand up to stronger cheeses like Camembert, triple cream, Masadam, or Gravyer, or Gruyere.
Like all sparkling wines, you can pair sparkling Yapıncak with some seriously fun foods. Fried chicken! Fried foods in general-try some tempura zucchini or french fries. Creamy cheeses will pair well here too.
Skin-contact Yapıncak is a pale amber wine with low to no tannins so food pair with this wine with flavorful but more delicate foods. Don’t over sauce dishes you pair here or you’ll drown the wine. Otherwise, almost every other suggested Yapıncak pairing you can play with here!
Producers to check out
Suvla makes the widest range of Yapıncak wines including a simple, stainless steel aged wine (drink young), a rich and creamy reserve oak-aged wine, and a traditional method sparkling wine.
Paşaeli makes two terroir Yapıncak wines as well as a skin-contact Kabuğunda.
Sevilen makes a simple, stainless steel aged wine as well but Sevilen’s is bigger and rounder than Suvla’s.
If you like Yapıncak also try: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Godello, Çavuş, Narince, Rkatsiteli, and Semillon.
Click to see my reviews of Yapıncak wines.