Selefkia Wines Ak Üzüm
Mersin, along Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast, brings to mind beaches and resorts. Not so much wine. And to be fair, only a very few commercial wineries operate in this area. One, Selefkia Wines, has long been more of a nebulous idea in my mind rather than a reality. However, just this summer, the winery began selling its wines in Istanbul and they are the hot new thing for a lot of wine lovers here.
My interest in Selefkia stems from its work with two underappreciated Turkish grapes: Patkara and Ak Üzüm. Ak Üzüm doesn’t pop up in a lot of wines here. The first time I heard about it was pre COVID during a wine tasting at a local restaurant. The restaurant owner has been growing the grapes in Konya and, in partnership with Chamlija winery, plans to release the wine. Hopefully next year. But those of us at the tasting got a sneak peak. So of course when I heard Selefkia was using it, I was excited to try.
Ak Üzüm is one of those emerging Turkish grapes that we don’t know a whole lot about at this point. I asked Selefkia Wines for any ampelographic information they had but, alas, they had nothing to give me. And so I learned about the grape the fun way rather than the academic way! And while their wine is actually a blend of 85% Ak and 15% Gök; I hoped to get a decent picture about Ak given it carried the majority of the blend.
I tried three different vintages from Selefkia also hoping to get an idea about how well, or not, the wine could age. In the end I’m still not sure on that point. The 2017 was oxidized which may have been a wine fault or a cork failure. Since that one didn’t show well, we’ll look at my notes for the 2019 and 2013 vintages only.
Selefkia Wines Ak Üzüm, 2019
Pale straw on the pour with aromas of fresh lemon, pear, hints of grass, and almonds. On the palate it was light-bodied with medium alcohol (12% abv) and fresh acidity. Palate flavors were on the medium level and incorporated the aromas sensed on the nose. Lots of pear upfront adding to it hints of pear blossom and bread with a kiss of lemon peel.
Selefkia Wines Ak Üzüm, 2013
The 2013 vintage showed a little of its age in the deeper golden hay color while retaining a distinct pear aroma. On the nose, buttered toast and almond joined ripe Bosch pear. Again, similar to the 2019, this older vintage was light-bodied with 12% abv and showed fresh acidity. The palate was more intense and included a broader scope of flavors than those showcased on the nose with pear and golden apple, dried chamomile flowers, hawthorn, tarragon, and beeswax.
All in all very interesting. I hope more wineries pick up on this grape so we can all learn a little bit more about it. I suspect for those seeking light-weight and quaffable white wines this would be a big hit.