Sweet Surprises from Antioche
Lent started last week. What are you giving up? Sweets? Coffee? TV? I can tell you what I’m NOT giving up and that’s wine. I like to imagine that I’m a semi-devout Catholic but I’m not a crazy person. Well. Probably not. Family history would indicate otherwise but that’s a tad off topic.
Amongst all the Turkish wineries, Antioche holds a special place for me. Maybe because (while not Catholic) they’re also Christian which gives me a different kind of connection with them and their wine? Maybe because I have a wee crush on the incredibly sweet owner and his family? Maybe because they have introduced us to a new grape (Barburi)? Whatever it is, I adore this winery. Which makes me especially excited to introduce two new, sweet wines they’ve debuted.
Antioche Semi-Sweet Misket, 2020
Now that Turkish winemakers have overwhelmingly filled the pervious dearth of dry Bornova Misketi wines, we’re seeing a return to a semi-sweet style. Several new semi-sweet wines have come onto the market in the last year. This one from Antioche is the winery’s first sweet white.
In the glass the wine had the cool yellow color of a young, not entirely ripe lemon complete with streaks of green. Aromatic and perfumed on the nose with ripe melon, peach, citrus, plumeria, and white rose…like walking into a tropical hot house. The palate ushered in similar flavors with orange blossom water, pomelo, and white pineapple.
This tasted much dried than I expected from a semi-sweet wine. Perhaps due to the really, very nice acidity keeping it in balance. Also possibly due to the utter looseness in winemaking regulations that leaves language like “semi-sweet” largely undefined. However, sweet or dry, at 13% abv, it was rather dangerous and went down far too easily. Especially with food! This wine loved food, particularly salty food which helped its sweetness shine more brightly.
I paired this with a fresh peach and greens salad topped with seared salmon and a chipotle peach compote.
Antioche Barburi Passito, 2020
I love me some Barburi. It’s crazy food friendly which, since it comes from Hatay (home to some of Turkey’s best food), is really convenient. I’ve so far enjoyed this grape in all the ways Antioche has made it including varietal, reserve with longer oak ageing, and blend. You can read my reviews of Antioche’s other Barburi wines here. I was, therefore, super intrigued to see in the winery’s Instagram page that they had a new semi-sweet red passito Barburi! And then thrilled when they sent me a bottle (I did say they were sweet!).
Passito is an Italian term related to wine made with semi-dried grapes. Usually this term references only wines made in Italy. However, all bets being off here, Turkey has several wines marketed as “passito”. The new Passito from Antioche is made with 100% Barburi grapes that were semi-dried and aged for eight months in oak after fermentation. They were inspired by the local tradition of making semi-sweet at home for family consumption.
Hazy, medium opaque, pomegranate red in the glass with aromas of dark fruits and a waft of spice. Muted black cherry, black raspberry, and star anise. Palate flavors, similar to the nose, lacked intensity but I enjoyed the cherry Life Saver pop of flavor. This was surprisingly tannic and really gave the impression of a dry wine. I’d love to know how much residual sugar is in here.
A perfect gateway sweet wine for people who don’t like sweet wine!