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If Shakespeare Drank Turkish Wine

 

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I write about Bornova Misketi a lot; about 25 times so far, in fact! And yet, I realized some time ago, that I somehow had neglected posting about my very favorite one. So, here is my rectifying that!

Misket, the Turkish name for Muscat, not only makes some of best sweet wines in Turkey but is increasingly known for quality dry wines. Most likely a child of Muscat Blanc á Petit Grains, Bornova Misketi has its own genetic characteristics and is a Turkish grape. Although more common as a practice for black grapes, like many Turkish grapes it takes its name from its place of origin. Bornova Misketi, which means “muscat of Bornova” originated around the village of Bornova just outside Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city. It now grows primarily in Manisa in Turkey’s Aegean region (of which Izmir is part) also can also be found around the Marmara coast.

In years past, wineries most commonly used this grape for semi and fully sweet wines. However, there is a growing popularity in Turkey to use the grape in dry wine. 

USCA Sonnet 5 Bornova Misketi, 2022

Like many of the Urla Wine Route wineries, Bornova Misketi is just about the only native grape USCA uses (aside from a small amount of Foça Karası in a red blend).  USCA steps out of the Urla pack with its unique packaging. When time came to register names for the wines, founding owner Serpil Şener hit on the idea of naming each wine for a Shakespearean sonnet that would reflect the wine’s character. In addition to creating labels that look like aged scrolls, each bottle carries a little tag around its neck with a line from the chosen sonnet. And for those of us who don’t know Shakespeare’s Sonnet 5 off the top of our head:

Those hours, that with gentle work did frame
The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell,
Will play the tyrants to the very same
And that unfair which fairly doth excel;
For never-resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter, and confounds him there;
Sap checked with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o’er-snowed and bareness every where:
Then were not summer’s distillation left,
A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty’s effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was:
But flowers distilled, though they with winter meet,
Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.

A pale lemon-lime on the pour, with a fulsome nose that lets you know instantly there’s Muscat in the glass. Citrus blooms, elderflower water, and tropical melon-mango fruit aromas leap enthusiastically out of the glass, enticing one to dice in and sip. Fermented totally dry with no hints of residual sugar, this is super refreshing and bright. It’s just a happy wine. Flavors of citrus and apricot joins the abundance of the nose wrapped around a tensely acidic core with moderate, easy alcohol at 12.8%. 

Absolutely lovely. 

Interested in exploring more? Check out all my other Bornova Misketi reviews.