Midin Vineyards Cudi: Honoring the Mountains
Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own.
Located in the Şırnak Province, Midin Vineyards established itself, in part to save the region’s ancient vines, in part to preserve the local Assyrian community’s wine culture. It was with this connection to their history and culture in mind that the winery launched its new Cudi wines this year. From the label:
Our village was established right in the middle of the valley known as the heaven valley of the Adam and Eve since more than 5000 years. Cudi, Gabar and Bagok mountains are the symbols of our geography. Mount Cudi is known as Kardu in Aramaic. More than 10000 years, people grew grapes on the terraces of Mount Cudi, produced wine and consumed it.
Cudi Dağ
Cudi Dağ, or Mount Judi (or Cudi) as we know it in English, has great historical and cultural significance for Turkey’s Assyrian population. The mountain is located in the southeastern Şırnak Province, at the headwaters of the Tigris River, near Turkey’s borders with Iraq and Syria. According to early Christian tradition, Mount Cudi was identified with Mount Ararat, the peak on which Noah’s Ark came to rest after the Great Flood. It would not be until the Middle Ages that another Turkish mountain became associated with both the name and as the (now largely) accepted location for the Ark’s descent.
Modern Assyrians are direct descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian Assyrians and speak Aramaic, one of the oldest continuously spoken and written languages in the world. Among the earliest converts to Christianity, they remain today almost exclusively Christian, adhering largely to the East or West Syriac Rite, but a number identify as Chaldeans or Arameans (not to be confused with Armenians). The Assyrian Empire was at one time a powerful ruler but subsequent invasions put an end to the empire and brought upheaval along with cultural and religious persecution for Assyrians living across the Mesopotamian Plain (shared now by modern Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran).
Turkey’s dwindling Assyrian population lives in small, quiet pockets throughout the deeply conservative Islamic provinces of Şırnak and Mardin.
Midin Vineyards Cudi Beyaz, 2023
The new white wine launched not only the line, but a newly recovered grape: Msabik Heworo which comprises 70% of the blend along with Bilbizeki. While very excited about another new grape (!) I have been frustrated and disappointed by the lack of information from the winery about the grape.
The wine poured a pale gold with an orangey tint. A rich wine with a largely fruity profile, aromas of stone fruit, yellow fruit, and orange poured out of the glass, trailed by a suggestion of spice. Full-bodied with decent acidity and a moderate alcohol level (13.8%), the wine filled my mouth and clung with a non unpleasant oily sensation. The palate featured lashings of stone fruit, especially apricot, along with dried chamomile flowers, and green tea.
Interested in Assyrian wines? Check out my other reviews of Midin Vineyards’ wines!
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