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Sipping Pretty this Summer with Emir and Trail Mix #WinePW

It’s summer. It’s hot. Unless of course you live in the southern hemisphere but, if you do, you’re probably dreaming of summer now! These days, most of us are probably reaching for a cold white or rosé wine or even a light-bodied, chilled red wine. But pairing wine with a meal? Cooking?! What’s that in this heat. Forget about it! This weekend, the #WinePW crew will be talking about their favorite way to beat the heat: Linda from My Full Wine Glass has invited us to share our favorite summertime wine and easy bites. You can read her invitation here.

Whether or not you wrote a blog post for this, join us for the discussion tomorrow, Saturday July 9 at 8 am PST/11 am EST/ 6 pm GMT +3 on Twitter. Follow along with the #WinePW and let us know what you’re sipping this summer!

My friends and I like to think we have nibbles down. There’s never not a cheese board and little bites of things. But my dedicated research partner Emma’s Baked Goods and I are taking things to the next level: trail mixes to pair with specific wine styles. Linda’s invitation was just the motivation we needed to get started!

Before we get there though, let me introduce you to Kocabağ. 

Kocabağ, Defining Cappadocia 

The Cappadocia region has a long history with viticulture and winemaking, due mostly to the large Greek population that lived their prior to the 1920s. Knowing about both the history and the favorable terroir, Mehmet Erdoğan was inspired to make his own wine. In 1972, Mehmet turned his village home and garden into a small winery. By 1986, he was selling his wine commercially under the name Kocabağ. 

Vineyards full of Emir, Narince, Kalecik Karası, and Öküzgözü grapes spread out around the chateau-style, gravity-fed winery in the small village of Yeşilyurt near Cappadocia.

The main goal at Kocabağ is to showcase Cappadocia’s terroir. Taking inspiration from Turkey’s ancient winemaking history, the Erdoğan family strives to emphasize the importance of the area’s unique geography and promote the regional grapes. For them, this makes investing in Emir, the premier grape of the region, especially important. 

Kocabağ K Emir, 2021

Emir is the King of Cappadocia. While wineries in the area plant a variety of native and international grapes, it is Emir that is native. People have tried planting the grape outside of Cappadocia’s high elevations (sometimes as high as 1200 meters) and volcanic soils, but it never really works. -You can read more about the grape in my the Get to Know the Grape series on it.

One fascinating thing about Emir is that, like Santorini’s premier grape, Assyrtiko, Emir displays a salty, sea breeze, saline edge. And yet, the nearest sea is well over 200 kilometers away. Kocabağ’s K Emir (K for Kapadokya which is how Cappadocia is spelled in Turkish) brings that saline edge into sharp focus. 

This crisp white shows a delicately savory character, with citrus bloom detail and briny notes framing a core of lime, pear, and apple flavors. Dry, bright, with a streak of crushed mineral and green apple linger on a zesty citrus finish.

For my bites, I paired this with a few locally produced semi-hard goat cheeses and pickled ginger along with the trail mix Emma and I created for high acid white wines. We tested ingredients for this against four different wines (four different grapes and regions no less) to find the perfect mix. We settled on a base of pistachios, leblebi, and dried white mulberries before adding raw hazelnuts, dried cranberries, and dried blood orange, then finished it off with dried, powdered mango. I cannot stop eating it!

What would you put in a mix for racy, high acid white wines? We’re going to tackle a mix for rosés next, then oaky whites, and so on and so forth. Stay tuned for those results!

Summer’s Not Over Yet!

Looking for more inspiration for your summer drinks and nibbles? Check out what the others in the #WinePW group suggest!

• Camilla’s posting “A Casual Feast and Canned Wines: Bo Ssäm + Two Shepherds’ 2021 Maxzilla Piquette” at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Wendy is “Sipping Rosé and Enjoying Summertime” at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Terri’s got “Summer Time Canned Sparkling Prosecco and Pepperdew Bites” at Our Good Life
• Gwendolyn’s going with “Orange Wines for Summer Times from Austria, Mexico, Oregon, Paso Robles” at Wine Predator
• Jane offers “Summertime Nibbles with Prosecco” at Always Ravenous
• Jeff says “Add Some Pop! to Your Summer of Rosé” at Food Wine Click! 
• Kat insists “Schiava is the Perfect Summer Red Wine for Grilling” at The Corkscrew Concierge
• Nicole has “Summer Memories of Sunshiny Sippers” at The Somm’s Table
• Linda serves up “Washington Pinot Gris for chilling on a lazy summer afternoon” at My Full Wine Glass