Paşaeli Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş
This is a semi sponsored post but all opinions are my own.
While Paşaeli has built a reputation for its wines made from rescued and little-known Turkish grapes, the winery does produce a handful of wines using international grapes. In the past, these wines have all utilized black grapes. For example the Kaynaklar and K2 Bordeaux blends. Not anymore!
Released last year, the Paşaeli Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş (once upon a time) marks the winery’s first single-varietal white wine made with an international grape. Specifically, Chardonnay.
Paşaeli Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş, 2019
Harvested from vineyards in Çal, the Chardonnay came from the vast expanse of Turkey’s Aegean region. The wine is 100% Chardonnay, aged three months on the lees, and shows a pale gold in the glass.
An intense nose offers up aromas of flint and wet stone. After that first punch of smoky mineral, yellow fruits follow with golden apple and Santa Maria pears followed by an ethereal waft of smoked grapefruit peel.
No oak on this the lees ageing, short as it was, contributed to a roundness and weight off-set by medium acidity. Here the fruit tasted riper and more tropical with notes of melon and white flowers complimenting the smoky/flinty tones from the nose. Medium-bodied with 13.5% abv.
Take Two with Riedel’s Wine Wings
Since I drank this wine the first time, I have acquired a tasting set of Riedel’s new Wine Wings. The set includes a glass specifically for each Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. We have lots of all those things in Turkey (except the Nebbiolo). And while Paşaeli does a single varietal Cab in addition to the two Bordeaux blends, this is the first time they’ve had a fancy wine glass-matching white wine! I decided to get another bottle and see how the new notes, with the Wine Wings, compared to the first round of notes.
Once again I got smoky and grapefruit aromas. But this round gave me a richer, more tropical fruit profile with melon and apricot jam. The palate showed again a similar but richer profile. Pear and quince joined the melon along with chrysanthemum and linden followed by a lightly toasty backbreath.