Meet Osmanca, One of the Newest Aegean Grapes
Since shifting some of its focus to quality wines, Selçuk area-based Akberg Winery has sourced grapes from around the country. Narince from its home in Tokat, Emir from Cappadocia, Papazkarası from Thrace, Çalkarası from Çal, and so on. The winery’s decision to do so stems from its belief that a grape naturally grows in certain terroir for a reason. While a grape might happily grow elsewhere (Narince being a great example), not all react well to that (Emir). The winery then views the entirely of Turkey as one giant vineyard, ergo its label, Büyükbağ (large vineyard).
Osmanca – photo from Wayana Wine Bar
But not all of Akberg’s grapes come from the far-flung corners of the country. It sources one grape from its own backyard, Osmanca.
Pronounced os – man – dja, this is one of Turkey’s forgotten grapes. Native to the Gökçelan area of Çorum along the Aegean where it grows in clay and loamy soils, Osmanca is a tricky grape to work with as a winemaker. Good job Akberg works with the fantastic Gülçin Akçay! Why tricky? Osmanca is a delicate, thin-skinned grape that oxidizes very quickly. To address this problem, Akberg rushes its harvest to the winery to chill the grapes for a period of time before making the wine.
Akberg Büyükbağ Osmanca, 2021
The 2021 was Akberg’s premier vintage of Osmanca. The winery debuted it at one of Gustobar’s Istanbul wine forums, which is where I first learned about both Akberg and the grape.
A medium lemon leaning towards gold in the glass with an enticing perfume on the nose. Flavors of ripe pear, loquat, citrus, and violets filled the mouth. Round, medium-bodied, with 13.5% alcohol, and soft acidity. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it also had a little residual sugar. In addition to being prone to oxidation, I wouldn’t be surprised if Osmanca also rapidly loses acidity if left on the vine a couple seconds too long.
I remember thinking at the time that this was interesting, but I wasn’t especially taken with it. Aside from my utter delight over a new white grape.
Akberg Büyükbağ Osmanca, 2022
By the time the 2022 came out, my local wine bar Solera had put the Akberg Büyükbağ Osmanca on its by the glass list. I ordered a glass, not expecting any surprises, but surprised I was! This was different than I thought I remembered the wine being. That’s when I got in touch with Akberg to get a bottle each of the ’21, the ’22, and the sweet wine to compare them all. 
Pale straw in the glass with bright, citrus-forward aromas reminiscent of pomelo, grapefruit peel, and lemon balm accompanied by notes of flowers, fennel, and even a hint of sea spray. The Aegean Sea isn’t all that far from the vineyards after all! The palate offered more citrus in the way of kumquats along with both Devici and Asian pear flavors, and again fennel and some salinity. More lively acidity than the previous vintage with mouthwatering, lemony acidity and slightly lower alcohol at 13%.
I haven’t come across the 2023 yet, but I hope it and subsequent vintages are more like the ’22.
Akberg Late Harvest Osmanca, 2022
Also in 2022, Akberg released a sweet wine made with Osmanca. The majority of the wine came from late harvest grapes, with 30% botrytized grapes, then rounded out with two months ageing in American oak. In my experience, a lot of people who say that they don’t like sweet wine have generally had bad experiences with clumsily made, cloying, thick wine. Being the exact opposite of that, I think the Akberg Late Harvest Osmanca could get people to change their minds about sweet wine!
Initially delicate, the nose’s complexity deepened with each swirl of the glass to unveil floral notes of honeysuckle then apricot and loquat and honey. Sipping revealed flavors of ripe apricot, orange blossom honey, and orange marmalade. Definitely a feel of residual sugar in the mouth but buoyed by bright acidity, which also balanced the 14% alcohol. It will be interesting to see how this ages.
This the Osmanca wines sound good and want to know what else Akberg has to offer? Check out my reviews of some of the winery’s other wines here.