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Sagavin: A Jewel in Antalya

 

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Disclaimer: I received these wines as samples. All opinions are my own. This article contains affiliate links.

A couple years ago, I stumbled across Sagavin’s wines, maybe on Instagram. I ordered a few bottles to give them a go, but unfortunately, they soon after fell off my radar. Sagavin has wines in maybe a couple few restaurants in Istanbul, but not in shops. I’d contacted the owner, Uğur, a couple few months ago as I wanted to make sure to include them in edition 2 of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine (coming soon! – I hope, I feel like I’ve been saying that for months). He reached back out to me recently and sent me some samples. 

Yay!

So, let’s do this. 

Sagavin

Sagavin began with Uğur Aslan’s passion for wine, which led him to purchase a Boğazkere vineyard in Denizli’s Aegean region in 2017. What started as a hobby soon grew into a commercial winery by 2020.

The name Sagavin combines ‘saga’ and ‘vin’, referencing both epic tales and the Hittite root for wine, reflecting Turkey’s ancient winemaking history. 

Despite the challenges of winemaking in Turkey, Uğur, a former banker, is committed to his 20,000-liter winery near Antalya. He produces wines from both native and international grape varieties, including Boğazkere, Emir, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, and Syrah.

The Pairing

Recently, I found this recipe on The Guardian for Keralan coconut aubergines and have been dying to make it. Then I received the samples from Sagavin and thought…hmmm…I wonder? Author Andrew Clarke’s recipe isn’t straight up Indian but takes inspiration also from Portugal and Mexico. Luckily for me! The only thing I didn’t have in my pantry were the Kashmiri chilies, but I did have the dried guajillo peppers (thanks to my obsessive need to buy all Mexican spices possible when I’m in the US). I subbed the Kashmiri chilies for a combination of guajillo and cayenne and it worked a treat!

This was absolutely delicious (if not exactly photogenic) and I can see a lot of applications for both the curry sauce and the spice paste/rub!

Sagavin Emir, 2024 

Sagavin, like all sensible wineries, sources its Emir grapes from growers in Cappadocia – from Nevşehir to be specific. The vineyards there were planted in 1980 making them almost as old as I am…and I’ll let you all do that math (but please don’t). The vines are ungrafted, something possible in Cappadocia because of the sandy volcanic soils. 

2024 was a hot year. Outside of the summer heat, Cappadocia isn’t known for being overly warm and Emir…Emir does not like warm. That lack of comfort translated into the glass but Sagavin owner Uğur did a great job with what he had. 

Golden apple, stone fruit, soft citrus, lime blossom and lily aromas wrapped around a strongly acidic core. One of my favorite things about Emir is that it generally doesn’t have high levels of alcohol, here it was only 12.4%. 

This paired pretty well with the Keralan coconut aubergines! I couldn’t tell if it was the coconut milk, one of the many different spices that went into it, or what. Whatever it was, it worked!

Sagavin Öküzgözü Kalecik Karası Rosé, 2024 

A 50/50 blend of Öküzgözü (from Antalya) and Kalecik Karası (from Nevşehir), the Sagavin rosé was a lovely onion skin color.

The nose was unexpectedly pruney but the palate burst with bright acidity and flavors of red fruits, wild mountain strawberries, and white cherries. Dry and ever so slightly tannic with a 12.4% ABV.

It did NOT pair well. Not at all.

Can we take a momentary break and talk about the labels? Uğur noticed the similarity between the Göktürk alphabet and Scandinavian runic alphabet. Scandinavians of course being no strangers to an epic-chronicle, he decided to “hide” the word ‘saga’ in his label using runic letters. While his original labels were already pretty great, he’s since made an upgrade. Now, “Sagavin is a world where colors turn into bird sounds.” I’m not even going to pretend I follow that, but I love the aviary additions to the labels, especially the rosé.

Sagavin Öküzgözü, 2024 

Since it’s still rather hot here, the wine only has a 12.8% ABV, because Öküzgözü is generally on the low tannic side, and because there was no oak on the wine, I decided to chill it. Best. Decision. 

For this wine, the Öküzgözü grapes come from not too far away Elmalı which, with its high elevation in the limestone Taurus Mountains, usually turns out wines of finesse and elegance. It poured a beautiful, clear cherry color and, almost as if color had a smell, it was reflected in the glass. Lots of cherry on the nose with something like a spiced confit cherries and brushes of a Cabernet Franc-like greenness. The palate gave similar tones of cherry along with plum and mulberry, all of which took on more mahlep notes as it came up to room temperature. Lightly tannic, good acidity, and a surprising winner with the curry!

Visiting Sagavin

There are so many reasons to visit Antalya, and now you have one more if you include a visit to Sagavin! The new winery is located a mere hop, skip, and a jump away from the Düden. As with many companies here, you can easily contact the winery via its Instagram to set up a visit. 

Getting There

If you’re not already local, the best option is to fly into the Antalya airport. You can of course arrange a pick-up at the airport if you don’t like to drive. But really, the most convenient way to get yourself around to all the many, many attractions in Antalya is to rent a car. Turkey has pretty easy regulations for foreigners driving/renting cars. As long as you have a valid license from your own country and a freshly stamped passport, you’re good to go. Google Maps and the like work pretty well here (for the most part, I could tell you stories). 

As someone always between regular (and usually basic) insurance plans, I’m also a big advocate of travel insurance. Medical care in Turkey costs significantly less than many of us, especially in America, are used to, but why take the risk?

What to See and Do

After you visit the Sagavin winery, there are almost unlimited things to do in Antalya. Do you like beautiful beaches? Check. Adventure activities? Double check. Ancient ruins? Checkitty check check! 

I myself haven’t fully explored the region but was stunned by a trip to the ruins of Sagalassos and Kibrya. Not only were they incredibly beautiful – not to mention the views! -but, with it being a little outside of the main city, we basically had the site to ourselves.  But, if you don’t like driving yourself around, there are so many tours:

• Get a tour of the ruins of Perge, Aspendos, and Side
• Tour the old city, ride in a cable car, and see Antalya’s beautiful waterfalls!
• Take a boat trip to a Mediterranean island
• If you’re feeling crafty…learn how to make your own perfume
• And more!

Getting Sagavin Wine

As I mentioned, it’s not especially available outside Antalya. If you can’t visit the winery, you can contact the winery or Kurt Premium Wine in Antalya.