Suvla; Championing Yapıncak
Turkey is home to hundreds, if not thousands of vitis vinfera grapes not found anywhere else. As with many winemaking countries some grapes are more popular than others. It is easy to find wine here made from grapes like Narince, Emir, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, and Boğazkere. But Yapıncak not so much. Very few wineries work with this grape. Really only Suvla, Paşaeli, and Sevilen.
Yapıncak
Never heard of this grape? Not surprising. The Yapıncak grape is difficult to grow and prone to low yields even in good years. Its 
continued existence is down to the few winemakers who continue the struggle to cultivate it.
Grown around Turkey’s Marmara sea, largely in Eceabat, Yapıncak grapes are tiny with very thin skins and produce aromatic wines with mineral, citrus, and floral characteristics and take on vanilla and creamy flavors with oak ageing.
Championing This Little Used Grape
Suvla has over a dozen wine labels. Like many countries Turkey does not actually control what “reserve” means and when you can use the term on your label. So there are some cases here in which the winemaker just slaps it on the label. But not with Suvla. Suvla is a quality, conscientious producer and you can trust what they put on the label.
This commitment to quality may be why Suvla has taking it upon itself to put so much effort into this all but forgotten grape.
In their vineyards, almost more than any others in the country, you know that you’re in Turkey. Other vineyards sit near ancient Hittite, Greek, and Roman ruins that scatter the country from one end to the other. But Suvla’s vineyards nestle in the historical Peninsula of Gallipoli, between the North Aegean coast and the Sea of Marmara. Yes, that Gallipoli. The recent history in these battlefields is still felt in the heart of all Turks. While the bloody remnants of battlefields have given way to lush, green vineyards the memorials and
graveyards they grow around are a constant reminder of the great loss that happened there.
It is here that Suvla uses Yapıncak to make not one, not two, but three different wines. One, and entry level simple tipple, another a reserve-style showing depth of flavor and oak influence, and lastly, a methode champenoise style sparkling wine.
Suvla Kınalı Yapıncak 2015 Tasting Notes:
Before the wine, a note on the name. Yapıncak is the name of the grape but Suvla uses a synonym, Kınalı Yapıncak. Kınalı is the Turkish word for “henna”. This grape is known for developing rusty, copper-colored spots on its skin. Thus the nickname.
While the entry level Suvla Kınalı Yapıncak is a pale, straw yellow it is still, at 13% abv, a wine to be reckoned with. The nose is delectable; redolent of white peaches, flowers, and delicate pastry. The palate is creamy and supple with white flowers and stone fruit with a hint of steely flint.
I truly love it when winemakers vinify one grape into multiple styles. Particularly when the grapes all come from the same vineyard. It is then that you get to really experience everything of which the grape is capable.
Suvla’s entry level Yapıncak is charming and very drinkable. The reserve is like this wine on phenolic steroids.
Suvla Kınalı Yapıncak Reserve 2015 Tasting Notes:
Unlike the previous wine, this one spent some time in oak. Eight months to be exact. It also has a slightly higher abv (13.5%). Combined with the oak it gives the wine a bit more heft on the palate.
The nose here is also slightly more aromatic. It displays similar, but deeper and more expansive aromas than the previous. White nectarines, white flowers, flaky pastry, vanilla, and cream meld with hints of sea. Smelling this is almost like eating peach pie on the shores of the nearby Marmara and Aegean seas.
Flavors very much reflect the nose and the long finish leaves the lingering flavor of melted vanilla bean ice cream. Creamy and medium-bodied but displaying an excellent ribbon of acidity.
Suvla Kınalı Yapıncak Sparking 2012 Tasting Notes:
As much as I love the reserve, and I do, I really think that this grape has been waiting to be a sparkling wine. Suvla is one of the few wineries in Turkey making traditional method sparkling wine. The care and expense they put into this just one more reason they’re this grape’s champion. 
Made as a brut style wine, it has the lowest alcohol of the three (12%). The nose displays some similarity to the previous two wines, mostly in the ripe stone fruit aromas. However the sparkling version of this grape also shows some citrus and almond aromas. In the mouth it is an explosion of bubble that are at first prickly but soften to a comfortable froth. Warm stone fruits accompanied by pastry, vanilla, and almond remind me of the almond paste-filled banket pastries my mom makes every Christmas. Which I have never liked so I think it’s funny how much I enjoy this wine.
Cheers to Suvla, Paşaeli, Sevilen and any other vineyards that champion some of Turkey’s less popular, less common grapes!