For years Bozcaada wineries have more or less quietly made wine with Karalahna. Maybe it's me noticing it more or maybe it's that the grape made it off the island and into the hands of one of the country's most popular winemakers
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To kick off summer, I recently hosted an online wine tasting of some of Turkey's island wines. Turkey has several islands which boast great seafood, nice beaches, old forts, beautiful scenery, and yes, wine! Many of the grapes grown on these island grow only on these islands. Happily for those of us in Turkey, we needn't trek to the islands for the wines as they're widely available on the mainland. For the tasting, I selected five wines from four different wineries. Four grapes are native Turkish but one is a Croatian transplant. Yes. Croatian. You'll have to read on to find out which grape! Çamlıbağ AyaPetro Erken Hasat, 2020 We began
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Yapıncak (ya-pin-juck) is one of Turkey's great, underappreciated grapes. Capable of producing a wide range of wine styles, from simple and refreshing to traditional method sparkling, I for one really don't understand why so few wineries use it. Especially for all those wineries located in the Marmara region that told me "well there really are no native grapes here;" ahem. Yapıncak. Granted, the Yapıncak grape can be tricky to work with. In the vineyard it's prone to low yields even in good years however, while the grapes are very thin-skinned they have good disease resistance. Grown in the Marmara and Aegean regions around the Gallipoli Peninsula, Yapıncak grapes are
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Have you ever found a producer who just excels at something? For me that person is Akın Gürbüz. I enjoy all his wines (his new Sauvignon Blanc is killer) but in my opinion where he really shines is his reds. Akın Gürbüz made a new red wine? Both hands in the air, sign me up, where do I get in line?! He's recently released a slew of new wines including: Hieros Oros (a Bordeaux-style), and varietal Merlot and Cinsault. I drank, I swooned. I haven't yet posted about them here (although I have on Instagram). His Blend #1 isn't new though. I'm going back to the classics with this one.
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Uçmakdere Winery, based in the village of the same name along the Sea of Marmara, is one of the most exciting wineries for me right now. Entirely because of the winemaker, Işıl Bulutsuz. Işıl Bulutsuz is not only the daughter of one of Firuze’s founding families, she is also the winemaker. Prior to becoming Firuze’s winemaker Işıl studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris where she received a diploma in Wine and Management and graduated from the Professional Culinary Arts Program from Turkey's Mutfak Sanatları Akademisi (MSA) Culinary Arts Academy. She sat down with me (virtually of course!) this week to talk about her work in wine. Don't forget to
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In December I looked at several Turkish Cabernet Franc wines as part of #CabFrancDay (December 4), that month's #WinePW food and wine pairing event, and my Advent wine calendar. However, those are not the only Cabernet Franc wines Turkey has to offer! The below wines in now way cover all the Cabernet Franc here. They just happen to be the ones I've enjoyed in the last year (give or take). Gürbüz Cabernet Franc, 2018 Late 2019 marked Akın Gürbüz's first Cabernet Franc. Grapes sourced from Solera's Gazıköy vineyards, fermented in open vats then aged for 13 months in new oak. The result: one of the most stunning Cabernet Francs in
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If Turkey has a traditional wine blend it would be Öküzgözü Boğazkere. These two grapes native to Turkey's eastern provinces (of Elazığ and Diyarbakır respectively) compliment one another. Öküzgözü has bright red fruits and vibrant acidity. Boğazkere adds tannin, structure, power, and savory notes. I've drunk quite a few of these blends over the years. Like anything else, some are good, some are not, and some are outstanding. Having had Öküzgözü Boğazkere blends a plenty, very few surprise me anymore. Until I had Kutman's. The Adnan Kutman winery sits at the edge of the Sea of Marmara fully on the other side of the country to the grapes' homes. The winery
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Yusta Bursa is one of Turkey's newest wineries which debuted its first vintage (2017) last year. With vineyards and the winery based in Bursa-"just" across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul it is the first winery to put down roots in Bursa. A family run winery n the business side, it is one of the many here to use Turkey-based French wine making consultant Jean Luc Colin. Bursa generally has a reputation for being a very conservative city. Tourism (both domestic and international) centers around Ulu Cami (the Great Mosque) and several religious tombs. However, more recently, the city has garnered a reputation as a foodie haven. Dinner and
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Syrah is the most popular international grape planted in Turkey. Not only is it the most popular international grape, it's one of the top three planted grapes overall here. Therefore, finding a Syrah-based wine (varietal or otherwise) does not present a huge challenge here. Turkish winemakers produce outstanding Syrahs in both Old and New World styles (although the latter feels more prevalent). I've had some really beautiful Syrah wines from Turkey over the last few years. I've also had some really bad ones. But we're not going to talk about those! Prodom Reserve Syrah, 2014 Based in Aydın towards the east of the Aegean growing region, Prodom uses Syrah in many
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We celebrated #CabFrancDay on December 4. To keep the Cab Franc love going the December #WinePW theme explores Cabernet Franc Around the World! You can read the invitation post by host Wendy Klick from A Day In The Life on The Farm here. It will surprise no one that I am featuring Cabernet Franc from Turkey! Join us tomorrow, December 12 at 7pm IST/ 11am EST / 10am CST / 8am PST by following along with the #WinePW hashtag on Twitter as we talk all things Cab Franc! Cabernet Franc Most probably know Cab Franc as a blending grape. In Bordeaux-style wines, Cab Franc may get blended with two of its offspring:
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