Sagavin Boğazkere Öküzgözü Proves Passion Matters
Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample but all opinions are my own.
Summer might not be when you think want to drink hefty red wines. Or maybe it is, I don’t know your taste! But, since summer is when people flock to Antalya, don’t miss the opportunity to visit Sagavin and taste their wines while you’re there.
I’ve always felt a little ‘meh’ about Boğazkere and Öküzgözü blends. Maybe it’s my innate dislike of Öküzgözü, even though I know it serves a purpose. But I also think that there are so many of them on the market and only a fraction of them are truly good. This one is truly good. What’s the difference? Romantic thought or not, I like to believe it’s because I was tasting the winemaker’s passion.
Sagavin Bağcılık ve Şarapçılık
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.
Sagavin’s wines aren’t easy to come by in Istanbul. If you’re interested in getting your hands on any of them, I suggest getting in touch directly with the winery. You can always reach out via Sagavin’s Instagram.
Sagavin Boğazkere Öküzgözü, 2022
While he’s since changed things up, Uğur sourced his Öküzgözü and Boğazkere grapes for this blend from Denizli. The vineyards he used were young, just four years old. Quite shocking given the depth and maturity of the wine he produced!
Coincidentally, I just talked about co-ferments a few posts ago and now here’s another. Uğur macerated, fermented, and pressed his blend of 65% Boğazkere and 35% Öküzgözü together. He did five to six punch downs every day. When I spoke to him about the wine, he joked that he’d lost a lot of weight while making this because of the sheer physical force needed to do the punch downs! After fermentation, the free run wine went into French oak for eight months. The barrel-aged wine made up about 50-60% of the final wine after blending with the pressed and unoaked wine.
A cloud of blackberry perfume all but exploded from the glass as if the stemware simply couldn’t contain that level of aromatics. A profusion of blackberry bramble, jam, and black currants, accompanied by a touch of sweet, Tahitian vanilla, and a sprinkle of baking spices did a tantalizing dance under my nose. Violets and black currant leaf lent an elegant floral note to the otherwise mixed berry clafoutis bouquet.
Infamously tannic Boğazkere tamed by the softer, milder Öküzgözü gave the wine mouth-filling and lush tannins that carried that richness across the palate finishing with a surprising but welcome hint of Italian-roast coffee.
Uğur made fewer than 2,000 bottles of this vintage. You might get lucky and still find one around. But, if you cannot, he bottled the 2024 (he didn’t make it in ’23) at the end of March.
No Comments