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Your March 2025 Turkish Wine Horoscope

 

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March brings any number of key days with which to mark the month. Fat Tuesday this year is the 4th. The 20th is the first day of spring. And on the 8th we celebrate International Women’s Day. Turkey has a higher than average percent of women working in its wine industry. You can read a little bit about it, including a few featurettes of these women, in this piece I wrote for the Vintner Project.

The short story, is that more than one-third of Turkish wineries involve women in high-level positions, and almost all of them employ large numbers of women in the field. To celebrate these remarkable women, this March, let’s all commit to drinking wine influenced by them. 

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

This is going to be a big month for you. Get ready for emotional, spiritual, and physical changes in your life. As the month opens, ask yourself: how can actively elevate and drive my life, instead of getting swept up in the activity around me? The answer to this may require learning a new skill, re-thinking some closely held beliefs, or changing some of your daily habits.  This is also an essential moment to get real about who’s in your corner. Who’s boosting your energy, and who’s draining you dry? Don’t shy away from the uncomfortable revelations, face them head-on. Only then will you be able to move forward with those who are worthy of sharing your future.

The wine for you …

Uçmakdere Winery, located in the village by the same name, is run by the Bulutsuz family. The woman behind the wine: Işıl Bulutsuz. After completing Le Cordon Bleu’s Wine and Management program, she gained experience working in wine shops in Paris and tasting her way through France while working with an American importer. Back in Turkey, she joined her family at the winery they purchased and renovated and soon became its head winemaker. In addition to making the wine, Işıl was behind the label redesign to better reflect the sprit of their “Firuze” line. 

This month, hunt down a bottle of her Uçmakdere Firuze Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Look for it at Comedus, Mensis Mahzen, and AS Wine Store. 

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

This month creates a perfect storm of conditions for overindulgence. While there is nothing wrong with having some fun (March 4 IS Fat Tuesday after all), it’s too easy to overdo this month. Practice restraint as much as possible. Especially as consequences might be graver than just a little hangover or a putting on a few pounds. You may be in danger of revealing secrets or information you’d rather didn’t go public during bouts of overindulgence. Be careful that your confidential information stays out of the ears of gossip, and you’ll keep your reputation intact.

The wine for you …

Canan Gerimli trained in pharmacology and worked as one for several years before coming to the realization that she didn’t actually like it. She loved nature, growing things, and gardening. Her love of wine dovetailed easily into a desire to begin an agricultural life. Her winery, Gordias, is about an hour outside Ankara, not too distant from the ancient city Gordion which inspired the name of her winery. 

This March, try a bottle of Gordias Cabernet Franc.

Gordias wines aren’t the easiest to find, but look for this one at Mensis Mahzen and Solera and you may have luck. 

Gemini (May 20 – June 20)

This month will bring you both emotional and material compensation for your creative work, Gemini. While those might not include world fame and fortune, it will be enough to be both gratifying and to smother that “broke artist” gremlin that haunts you. You ARE an artist and this month you will finally believe it.

The wine for you …

Fatma Yiğit and Alime Cicerali are both agricultural engineers who met while working for the Ministry of Agriculture. In the early aughts, excited by the revitalization of the Kalecik Karası grape happening around Ankara, the two decided to shift their lives away from government public projects to viticulture.

This March, open a bottle of their Tafali Kalecik Karası.

Really not easy to find but often Santé Wine & More carries Tafali wine. Try also Casa Botti, Grand Cru, or Rind. 

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)

Take a beat at the beginning of March for a deep dive into your priorities. Everyone needs a check-in on this once in a while and this month, it’s your turn. You’re usually quick to act when you’re inspired, but this month, slow down and assess what’s worth your energy and if you’re expending that energy on too many things that won’t move your life forward.  Take this time to breathe, reflect, and clear out what’s no longer serving you. March is about aligning your actions with what truly matters, and protecting your energetic boundaries most particularly in the realms of work.

The wine for you …

Zeynep Arca Salliel started Arcadia Bağları with her father in 2004. Wine lovers both, they often dreamed together about what their perfect wine would be, and by 2009, they were making them! More than the co-founder, Zeynep is involved also in the winemaking and has proudly ushered in a number of firsts in Turkey: the first botrytis sweet wine (333), the first traditional method Narince (Nareen), the first wines with Sauvignon Gris, and more. 

It’s a little pricey…but treat yourself to a bottle of her Arcadia Doğal Fermentasyon Papaskarası Öküzgözü this month. 

Find it at places like Casa Botti, Dekante, Grand Cru, La Cave, Mensis Mahzen, and a handful of other places. 

Leo (July 23 – August 22)

Just like the iconic slayer Buffy, who, despite fighting it, eventually chose to embrace her destiny, you too are being called to step into a new adventure. Granted yours isn’t about saving the world from the Hellmouth and vampires. It is, in fact, a scarier calling though: taking ownership of who you truly are. Buffy’s journey was never linear, and neither is yours. She faced moments of doubt, loss, tragedy, but each time she chose her calling, it propelled her forward into something greater. This month, your manifesto is clear: choose your destiny over comfortability. And remember, like Buffy’s Scooby gang, you have your own core of trusted people helping you fight battles. Don’t hesitate to lean on them when the journey feels overwhelming.

The wine for you …

Nazan Uzun fell in love with wine and winery life while living in California. Back in Turkey, having difficulty finding work as an engineer, she decided to resurrect that feeling she left behind in California but founding her own winery. She very quickly realized that it was far more hard work than it was romantic! Nazan nonetheless threw herself in 110%. Committed to organic viticulture in order to craft quality wines, Nazan is one of the very few people in Turkey who cellar ages wine before releasing it to the market. 

Try the winery’s eponymous Chateau Nuzun blend this month. While the exact blend changes year by year, the original blend came about through pure happenstance. Nazan’s first commercial harvest was very nearly a disaster with a late season storm destroying most of her crop. With not enough grapes to make a varietal anything, she blended everything she had to be able to release a wine that year. 

Fairly widely available, find it at places like Carrefour, Casa Botti, La Cave, Macro Center, Mensis Mahzen, Rind, etc.

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

As much as you like to keep things balanced and tucked into a cozy nest, March is going to disrupt your calm and safe space. The month will take you into your own personal underworld, where you’re going to be diving into the heart of who you are. Like spelunking to the deep caverns of your heart and mind, this journey will take you to places within yourself that you’ve never seen. Lean on your relationships as both a path into this darkness and as safety cords to pull you back if you need rescuing. This is not, therefore, a month to be closed to vulnerability. It’s actually about risking your brave heart to be seen.

The wine for you …

Işık Gülçubuk began her training at Ege University in the Food Engineering Department then gained an MSc in Viticulture and Oenology (Montpellier SupAgro and Polytechnic University of Madrid). She worked in both wineries and vineyards in France, Spain, New Zealand, and the USA before coming back to make her mark in Turkey. An accomplished winemaker, Işık heads the wine programs at several wineries here, including Kastro Tireli and Paşaeli. She’s passionate about sustainable viticulture principles, something that carries through both her vineyard and winemaking practices.

You can always find this at the Kastro Tireli shop in Kuruçeşme and often at Casa Botti, Comedus, İyi Şarap, La Cave, Macro Center, Rind, and other places.

Libra (September 23 – October 22)

Your connection to love, beauty, and aesthetics is anything but superficial. They are far more than art, they are a spiritual revolution, a calling. This is a feeling that you carry with you into all corners of your life, including into the relationships you have. Like beauty being more than superficial, relationships to you are more than just connection. They are a raw, magnetic alchemy where two forces collide and create something infinitely more powerful than either could alone. March invites you to dive in and explore these powers.

The wine for you …

Şeniz Saç was working as an editor for a food and beverage magazine in the early 2000s when she and her father began making wine at home. Fascinated by the transformation of grapes into wine, when Ilyas suggested establishing a winery, Şeniz knew right away that she wanted to be the winemaker. She first pursued a foundation in food sciences in the Netherlands before being accepted into an enology program in Toulouse. Şeniz now flies back and forth between her home in Europe and the family winery Arda where she still oversees the vineyards and winemaking. 

Sip on a bottle of her Arda Gala Papazkarası (or the Cabernet Sauvingnon blend if you can’t find the monosepaj) this month.

Look for it at places like Casa Botti, La Cave, Mensis Mahzen, Solera, Rind, etc.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 22)

March serves you up some challenges but also breakthroughs. Explore seriously this month how you balance your work with your personal life and your spirituality…if you are balancing them that is. Learning how to bring everything into alignment will be your biggest challenge. You’ll need to confront how much of your daily life is in line with your how you both envision your ideal life and what it is your soul wants your life to be like. Check yourself that you’re not selling out your creative genius in favor of chasing the wrong kind of success.

Be bold. Challenge your old patterns, and take your spiritual practices more seriously, with a touch of fun. Get ready to be tested, but the rewards are beyond worth it. 

The wine for you …

When Gaye Özcan and her family started Nif Bağları, all the older, male winery owners told her she needed to plant Bordeaux grapes to be successful. But Gaye didn’t want to work with Bordeaux grapes. So she planted Sangiovese and Montepulciano. And Syrah because this is Turkey. Gaye and Nif Bağları also helped pioneer the dry Bornova Misketi trend. But she also brought to Turkey a grape she learned about while interning in Germany: Solaris. 

And that’s what you should be drinking this month, her Nif Bağları Solaris. The latest vintage is the best one yet that the winery has released!

Look for it at Carrefour, Iyi Sarap, Mahzen 26, Macro Center, Mensis Mahzen and more. 

Sagittarius (November 23 – December 22)

Boldly claim your identity as an artist this March, Sagittarius. Let go of external noise and criticisms and focus on the magic you can create. An especially important message for those who don’t view what they do as art. Art isn’t always paint on canvas, putting words on paper, music, or other things we view as “Art”. Artists are also bakers, chefs, winemakers, horticulturists, healers… Put aside your self-doubt and embrace what ever it is you do as the art it really is. It is worthy of attention, admiration, and of being taken seriously.

 The wine for you …

Gülçin Akçay wears many wine hats. She holds a Master’s Degree in Food Engineering, is a consulting winemaker at several wineries like Akberg, head winemaker at Saranta, and is a trained viticulturist. She credits her skill in the winery to her latter training. Gülçin says that when she tastes the grapes in the vineyard she can envision what the resulting wine will be like…and hasn’t been wrong yet!

Pull the cork this month on a bottle of her Saranta Chateau Murou Papazkarası. 

Look for it at Dekante, Grand Cru, İyi Şarap, La Cave, Mensis Mahzen, Online Mahzen, Vinus…

Capricorn (December 23 – January 19)

Just when you think you have everything figured out, March comes along like a wild card to unsettle your life, particularly your relationships. You’ll experience ups and downs this month with people in your life. Expect some difficult and uncomfortable conversations, but also reconciliation and healing. If it is possible to find a fresh start with others, this is the month to seek a pathway to it. You will need to open up and be honest and vulnerable and, importantly, meet that other person halfway.

The wine for you …

Sibel Çoban got her start in wine in 1996 while doing an internship with Sevilen. There she fell in love with wine and never left. The bulk of her formal wine education was theory-based and she credits her on-the-job experiences for developing her skills and propelling her from intern to head winemaker. Sibel wants to do more than “just make nice wine;” she wants to make sure that people outside Turkey get to know the wines made here. A team leader with a passion for research and quite literally getting her hands dirty in the vineyards, Sibel is involved in every step–from the harvest when she works non-stop seven days a week to the winemaking and blending, and even marketing as she has designed several of Sevilen’s labels.

This month, get a bottle of her Sevilen Pinot Noir. This was a particular passion project of Sibel’s!

Look for it at Dekante, Grand Cru, Macro Center, Mensis Mahzen, occasionally İyi Şarap and La Cave will have it…

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)

The truth train will steam into your life this month with all the clattering and clanging of an old-fashioned locomotive. No quiet, gentle awakening for you. March is the time for you to be honest with yourself and confront the comfortable lies that keep you stuck. Allow yourself to be honest about what it is you want and what are the lies you’ve told yourself that keep you from going after it. You don’t have enough money. You’re not qualified. No one will give you a chance. You simply haven’t the time…these are not real impediments. Now is the time to shatter these illusions and take bold action.

The wine for you …

When her father decided to start a winery in his retirement, Didem Özdemir dived right into the project. She attended Plumpton College in Sussex, England where she learned about winemaking. She had to put her knowledge to the test almost immediately!  Returning to Turkey just in time to manage the winery’s first harvest and vintage in 2012. Didem is passionate about not only wine but making wine that reflects the region. When you taste her wine, you are tasting the history and terroir of the Madra Mountains. 

This month, crush a bottle of her Ma’Adra Öküzgözü. Didem was the first person in Turkey to start using the carbonic maceration fermentation method and it gives a whole new style of Öküzgözü. 

Hard to find but Mensis Mahzen usually carries it. 

 Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

This March, approach life as though you have the starring role in a play. Each act requires you to wear the right costumes and masks, to adapt and to evolve with each scene. The month opens on Act One: giving the audience the play’s premise. Act Two: you confront the enemy holding you back (be it a person, a thing, or yourself). Act Three: the finale is up to you. Does the play end triumphantly or tragically? Sometimes, pretending life is a stage gives us more agency for boldness and being ourselves. Give it a try and see how it might change things.

The wine for you …

Rifaa Wais is part of the couple behind the Black Sea’s 502 Vineyards. She and her husband Mert moved from Spain, where they discovered their love for wine, back to Amasya to focus on the region’s native grapes like Narince and Merzifon Karası. Multi-talented Rifaa has also designed the winery’s new labels (which are so much better than the originals in my opinion). 

This March, try Rifaa’s 502 Vineyards Merzifon Karası, which may even be a new grape for you!

Might be available at places like Grand Cru, maybe Dekante? but for sure Mahzen 26.

Want to support other Turkish wineries with a strong female presence? Each of these involve a women as owner, winemaker, consultant, and other high-level managerial roles:

• 502 Vineyards
• Akberg
• Antioche
• Arcadia
• Arda
• Asarcık Bağları
• Ayda Bağları
• Barbare
• Buradan
• Çakır
• Canavar
• Chamlija
• Chateau Nuzun
• Diren
• Doluca
• Doseluna
• Ergenekon
• Etruscan
• Ezel
• Gali
• Gordias
• Gülor
• Hanchalar
• Heraki
• Hus
• Karnas
• Kastro Tireli
• Kerasus
• Kuzeybağ
• Kuzubağ
• Lermonos
• Ma’Adra
• Mesashuna
• Nif Bağları
• Pamukkale
• Paşaeli
• Saranta
• Selefkia
• Sevilen
• Sobran Bağları
• Suvla
• Tafali
• Uçmakdere
• Urlice
• USCA
• Vinkara
• Vinolus
• Yanık Ülke
• Yusta Bursa

Let me know if I missed one!