Blog

The Sparkling Jackal

 

---

Paşaeli, that great pioneer and champion of rare native Turkish grapes has done it again. The winery, never content to rescue a grape and make just one wine before moving onto the next, often does small batch experiments to see what some of these grapes can, and cannot, do. 

Years ago, the winery debuted its first wine with Çakal. The grape’s character is such that, black grape though it technically is, even extended maceration gives only a dark-ish rosé. Paşaeli made two wines with the grape, one pale, and one dark rosé. Now, the winery that brought pét-nats to the Turkish market, has added one more: the Paşaeli Çakal Pét-Nat.

Paşaeli and the Jackal

When Seyit Karagözoğlu, together with Ufuk and Cüneyt Karagözoğlu, established Paşaeli in 2000, his goal was not only to “just” make wine. It was to rescue Turkey’s rare, native grapes. Yes, the vineyards he established in Izmir host Bordeaux grape varieties. But, he knew that in order to successfully enter the Turkish market, that’s the wine he had to make first. While he did that, he already had his eye on some of the country’s overlooked and rare grapes. 

One such grape is Çakal – the jackal. 

Çakal

How does one go about discovering a near-extinct grape? Sometimes, you just get lucky like Seyit did. In 2016, he was visiting the vineyards from which he sources Sıdalan-another rare grape he reintroduced to the market. Vineyards here in the Kaz Dağları (Mount Ida to the non Turks) are not only old, but planted in the old way, i.e. mixed. These are small plots owned by individuals, most of whom inherited these from parents or grandparents, and often contain a couple few grape varieties. In this area, the most common would be Karasakız, Sıdalan, and (to a much much lesser degree) Çakal. 

While inspecting the vines on the plot of Sıdalan he works with, Seyit noticed some nearby grapes that were a pale reddish color. When he asked what they were, an old-fashioned game of ‘telephone’ ensued until he connected with the older gentleman who owned the plot. If I recall the story correctly, said gentleman was selling the grapes to a brandy or rakı producer, until Paşaeli came along!

The Kaz Dağları sit in the village Gedik, in the Bayramiç district of Çanakkale on the eastern side of the Sea of Marmara. Mostly vines planted here are goblet-trained and unirrigated. Soil structures change from sandy to more gravely the higher you go, but where these vines are, at about 450-500 meters, are predominately sandy clays. Planted in the 1940s, these vines are in their 80s. 

For this wine, the grapes macerated with the skins for nine days before pressing. As a pét-nat, the wine was created through the ancestral method. Unlike traditional or tank method sparkling wines, ancestral method involves only one fermentation. Wine gets bottled while only partially fermented, finishing the process in the bottle, thereby trapping a little CO2. Which is also why pét-nats are often only partially sparkling. The wine rested on its lees for seven months before being disgorged (common practice for Turkish pét-nats). 

Medium salmon color with sedate bubbles. A fresh wine, showing an herbal character with rose hip and orange peel notes framing a tart red fruit (sour cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb) core. Gentle bubbles and nice acidity to balance the moderate 12% ABV. 

But…the Jackal?

I had an interesting conversation the other day about Turkish grape names. The majority of Turkish black grapes are named something something Karası – meaning ‘the black of’ (usually a place). The person with whom I was speaking pointed out that this was [likely] a modern conceit and that surely most grapes had “better” names once upon a time. A few of those names do still exist. The most well-known being Öküzgözü (ox’s eye) and Boğazkere (throat scratcher). When grapes started to lose these names is an interesting question. Even if there are records that would point at what they used to be called, I highly doubt my Turkish would stand up to the test (especially if said documents are in old Turkish). 

Çakal Üzümü (jackal grape) is another one of those black grapes that managed to retain its more authentic name. It earned the name by being an early-ripening variety. What, you might ask, does that have to do with jackals? A lot, apparently! Jackals live in the Kaz Dağları (!) and, because this grape ripens before other fruit on the mountain, they are known to come out of hiding and munch on the grape bunches. Paşaeli, one of the only wineries giving consistently fantastic labels, gave us another good one here, with a playful interpretation of the jackal.

Given the rarity of grapes, Paşaeli could only make a small amount of this. A mere 300 bottles, in fact. It’s not, therefore, widely available. But, I know you can get it at Solera, so run there now if you want to get a bottle! And if you’re interested in more info about this or Turkey’s other black grapes, check out the downloads of my Turkish Black Grape infographics or my book, The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine!