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When Something Is So Good You Can’t Argue With It

Wine trends may come late to Turkey, but when they comes they do it with a vengeance. One of the most recent to sink its teeth in has been that of “natural” wine. And we all know how I feel about that. The next person who emails me to say they’re coming to Turkey and want wine recommendations but “I/we  only drink natural or at least biodynamic wine” I will hunt down this person and punch them in the face. So, please, don’t send me that email.

Small rant aside, let’s talk about the Kastro Tireli Hermos line. Kastro Tireli‘s wines have always been “natural” adjacent as the winery farms organically and the red wines ferment with ambient yeast. But they’ve now gone deep down the rabbit hole. Hermos first debuted as a skin contact version of its Viognier Narince blend. Then there was Hermos Kalecik Karası, then Syrah, then Cabernet…

While I’m not a fan of all this “natural” hoopla, I was very intrigued when I say the Kastro Tireli Hermos Bornova Misketi. On my last trip to Budapest, I asked the server at my favorite wine bar to pour me her favorite wine and ended up with a skin contact Muscat. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but in the end rather enjoyed it so I decided to give Kastro Tireli’s a go.

Kastro Tireli Hermos Bornova Misketi, 2021

And finally the wine. 100% Bornova Misketi, organic grapes, fermented with ambient yeasts, and 44 days of skin contact. The resulting wine showed a deep amber-gold in the glass.

This definitely needed some breathing time. I found the nose initially to be a little reductive but having the patience to let it open rewarded me with aromas of bruised apple, stone fruits, and orchard blossoms. The palate gave me full-on stone fruits combining some of the floral notes sensed on the nose with ripe apricot and peach Jolly Rancher. Medium-bodied with a touch of peach fuzz tannin and  high alcohol (14.5%) that balanced well with the fruit. 

I found this quite enjoyable and really would have gone out to buy another bottle, except that the price tag was pretty prohibitive. As much as 600 TL in some places. There are very few wines that don’t have bubbles that I’m willing to pay that much for. 

Usually when a trend hits a certain saturation point where it’s really no longer a trend and becomes part of the main stream, you would think that would make prices go down. It’s no longer unique or different. Sadly, that’s not the way wine pricing works here.