Paşaeli Morso Sole Sultaniye
We all know Sultaniye; whether or not we actually know we do! In America we’re more likely to refer to it as “Sultana” and it means raisins to us, not wine. Because few associate Turkey with wine, making the leap to think of it as a grape producer is almost as difficult. But it is, and a major one at that. In fact for Turkey we should talk first about grape production, then wine. The country is the world’s sixth largest producer of grapes. However, a mere 3% gets used for wine and rakı. Most grapes are consumed fresh, made into pekmez (grape molasses), or raisins. For the most part this 97% are Sultaniye grapes.
Not all Sultaniye grapes get eaten fresh or raisins though. A handful of wineries use the grapes for wine. It’s not always the best wine…but one can find a few decent examples. Much like Bornova Misketi, up until a few years ago most Sultaniye-based wines leaned to the sweet side, but now more dry wines are available. Paşaeli, a great experimenter and promoter of all native Turkish grapes, makes one of each.
Paşaeli Morso Sole (Sweet), 2016
The bulk of vineyards in Turkey lie in the eastern part of the Aegean in Denizli. Seeing vine and vine after vine as you drive through the region can come as quite a shock. Until of course you remember that most of these grapes are destined for things other than wine. This however, is where Sultaniye calls home. Paşaeli sources its grapes from here as well.
For this sweet Morso Sole (made in tall, slender half bottles), grapes are partially sundried and allowed to ferment naturally. The wine spends six months sur lie prior to bottling. The resulting wine is a deep, orangey-gold that glows like the sun after which it was named.
It smelled…well…like raisins. No surprise there, I guess! I honestly did not much care for the nose on this one and tried but failed to find an aspect to it beyond raisin. The palate proved to be far nicer though! Sultry and viscous but with medium-high acidity for balance and moderate alcohol (13% abv), flavors of lightly toasted nuts, brown sugar, candied orange peel, and of course golden raisins delighted the tongue.
Paşaeli Morso Sole (Dry), 2019
Unlike the sweet wine, Paşaeli made the dry Morso Sole with fresh grapes and less ageing (three mons sur lie which seems to be the norm for their white and rosé wines). This wine therefore showed a far less intense color. So pale as to almost be colorless.
If the appearance was a bit colorless though the aromas and flavors were anything but! A lemony and tropical aroma profile included lemon curd and lemon hard candy as well as sweet melon. Sipping revealed a surprisingly weighty wine. Granted it had a 13.5% abv but that pale color deceived me into thinking this was going to be a lighter-weight wine. I forget that Sultaniye usually produces a more unctuous style mouthfeel. Lively acidity kept this from feeling too fat though. Palate flavors leaned more tropical than citrus with banana joining the melon and edging out the lemon I sensed on the nose.
Fruity, summery, delightful!