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Mistia: Reviving Konya’s Wine Legacy

 

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“I gave the vineyard of the Soul.
I bought the barrel where grapes are crushed.
I wrote the deed of this transaction
On a glass of wine.” – Divan-e Shams by Rumi

The Poetry of Grapes in Konya

If you’ve heard of Konya, you might know it as the resting place of Sufi mystic poet Rumi. Or, along the same lines, as one of the most religiously conservative cities in Turkey. It is not the first place you think of for wine. And yet, here we are. 

Konya is actually an ancient region. It’s been inhabited since the third millennium BC and has seen the rule of many civilizations including the Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans before being conquered by the Seljuk Turks, then the Karamanids followed by the Ottoman Empire before being folded into the modern Turkish republic after the Turkish War of Independence. If you remember anything about Turkish wine history, you’ll recognize that a couple of the most historically influential wine civilizations were part of Konya’s history. 

Turkey is a highly agricultural country. I’ve mentioned more than once that we’re one of world’s largest grape producers and have more than 1,400 varieties of grapes. It is absolutely not outside the realm of possibility that grapes not only grow in Konya, but that wine was made there—at least historically. Even Rumi himself used the imagery of vineyard, grapes, and wine in much of his poetry. 

Mistia

For Istanbullites, the name Dursun Sevindi is synonymous with the restaurant Meat&Meet and its sister butcher shop Kasap Dursun. A wine lover, Dursun began visiting wineries around the country and abroad and making friends in the industry, namely Mustafa Çamlıca, owner of Chamlija winery. It would be a conversation with Mustafa that leapfrogged Dursun into the wine industry, founding his winery, Mistia.

It’s no coincidence that when Dursun decided to get into wine he went looking for grapes in Konya. He hails from the Hüyük district of Konya and was no stranger to the area’s grape-growing history. A living history, as it turns out. Dursun uncovered vineyards of old bush vines, aged anywhere from 80 to 300-years-old with trunks the size of a person’s torso, yielding small amounts of rare, largely forgotten grapes like the red Sıkkara and Kızıl Üzüm and white Ten Göynek, Hüyük Nazik Aküzüm, Kuyucak Aküzüm, Eregele, and Sakal Islatan.

Hüyük, Konya

Konya itself has a  cold semi-arid climate. Hüyük is a little different though. It’s about 90 km west of Konya proper and sits in the northern part of the Mediterranean Region and the Lakes Region. The climate here is kind of a mix, exhibiting characteristics of both Mediterranean and Central Anatolian climates. Hüyük is another of Turkey’s high-altitude vineyard areas with an average altitude of 1,240 meters. It’s surrounded by mountains to the north and east, with Lake Beyşehir in the west.

Mistia Gafa

Gafa is Mistia’s entry-level label offering white, rosé, and red blends. And blends they are. The white combines Gök Üzüm, Ten Gönyek, Nazik Ak Üzüm, and Eregele. 

It was really rather reductive upon opening, something I’ve found with several of Mistia’s white wines. Swirling wasn’t enough to blow off those aromas and it wasn’t until it had been open for a few days that I could comfortably drink it. That said, when it got enough oxygen in it, it turned out to be a pleasant, easy-drinking wine. Medium-bodied with low-ish alcohol at 12.1% ABV, it was fruity with pear and tropical mango, over-laid by a spritz of fresh lemon. 

For the price, not bad at all. 

Mistia Puduhepa Ten Gönyek

If Gafa is Mistia’s entry-level wine, Puduhepa is its upper segment. This is a 100% Ten Gönyek, made (I think) entirely in stainless steel.

This isn’t one of those big, in your face wines. It’s more delicate and subtle with yellow apple, start fruit, and citrus fruit, underlined by a crystalline minerality. Medium-bodied with low alcohol, 11.9% ABV, it’s dry and lightly structured, clean with bright acidity. 

Mistia Zale

Mistia’s Zale is a rose that blends Sıkkara and Kızıl Üzüm. They are black grapes, but black grapes with incredibly low anthocyanin levels so they’re not used for red wines. 

Much like the whites, the Zale is a medium-bodied, dry wine with low alcohol, only 11.8% ABV. It’s red fruits with mountain strawberry, cornelian cherry, and pink grapefruit, lightly herbal, and wrapped in white tea tannins and mouthwatering acidity.

For such a relatively new winery, Mistia has a ton of labels and Dursun also plants international grapes in Konya. The real treasures though are the native grapes. Happily for all of us, Misita wines are increasingly available around Istanbul.

*All photos courtesy of Mistia