Pairing Arda Kuşlu & Rezerv Merlots #MerlotMe
Last year for the #WinePW #MerlotMe event, I paired a late harvest, dry, Merlot by Arda and you can see that pairing here. Knowing that Arda makes several other Merlot wines, I got a couple to further explore for Merlober!
Arda
Arda Bağcılık is a boutique, family-run winery located near the historic town of Edirne. Established in 2007, the vineyards are overseen by family patriarch and winery founder Ilyas Saç. In true family business fashion everyone pitches in. Ilyas’ daughter Seniz is a trained oenologist and, along with Bulgarian expert Kamen Koev, serves as winemaker. His son Yavuz, a wine scholar, manages winery operations together with his wife Bahar. 
A chateau-style winery, vineyards surround the facilities, running down the gentle hill topped by the winery. Stratas of sand and stone over terra rosa and clay ensure that drainage is not a problem in the fields and helps with their efforts to cultivate low yields and high quality grapes. They grow (or buy in from trusted partners) a variety of grapes including: Narince, Papazkarası, Chardonnay, Sauvingon Blanc, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Syrah, and, most importantly for this post, Merlot.
Arda Kuşlu Merlot, 2019
I found this recipe for charred eggplant and burrata on Food & Wine and have been dying to try it. So I decided to try pairing it with Merlot since it’s October. I have to say the whole intro to the recipe made me raise an eyebrow though. People in Turkey eat lots of eggplants and use pomegranate vinegar. But using the pomegranate arils is not super common in my experience. Or za’atar. That’s Middle Eastern. I mean, sprinkle on some fenugreek and you’ve got a dish her far closer to Georgian cuisine than Turkish!
All that aside it was really good though.
The Arda Kuşlu line represents the winery’s mid-range series and these are usually great value wines. The Merlot spent six to eight months in used oak before bottling. In the glass it showed a deep ruby, almost fully opaque. Cherry and black fruits hit the nose first, followed by brown spices and bright kick of mint. Calling that first moment after sipping the “attack” was never so appropriate. The tannins on the attack are quite aggressive and, yes, on the attack! Flavors similar to those in the nose with the addition of a somewhat unpleasant bitter green stick flavor. Really quite a rustic wine, full-bodied with 14% abv, and decent acidity.
BUT
Paired pretty well with this dish. Definitely held up to all the flavors happening in the dish and the pomegranate vinegar and arils helped highlight and brighten the wine’s fruit flavors.
Arda Rezerv Merlot, 2017
I suspected even before pouring this that the Arda Rezerv Merlot would not pair well with the dish. I think this eggplant dish needs a fruitier wine and not one that has had extensive or any new oak. But I wanted to compare the two wines so I went for it anyway!
This wine aged in oak (at least some of it new) for 18 months. In the glass it looked inky purple. This one definitely wants air. The nose presented very tight initially. Eventually though, it released aromas of purple plums and prune, fresh black fig, dried lavender, and dried mint. Also 14% abv (Turkey likes its high alcohol wines), the affects of both age and oak were obvious on this wine. Unlike the younger Kuşlu Merlot, the Rezerv’s tannins were velvety, fine-grained, and nicely integrated. Palate flavors were everything promised in the nose with a sense of earthiness and old leather.
As I suspected, the wine completely overwhelmed the eggplant dish. Definitely need to find a different pairing for this wine.