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Top Cozy Turkish Red Wines that Feel Like a Hug

 

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Granted we’re going through a weird warm streak at the moment in Istanbul, but that’s doesn’t mean winter is over. It often makes itself know again at an inopportune time. When that happens, reach for one of these top cozy Turkish red wines that feel like a hug to keep you warm!

Gordias Boğazkere, 2012

Hands down, Gordias’s is one of my favorite Boğazkere wines. Canan brings her grapes for this in from Diyarbakır and ages the wine little, if at all, oak. One would think that might be walking on the edge with a tannic grape like Boğazkere, but it works!

Medium opaque ruby, not as deeply colored as one would usually expect from this grape but between the age and lack of oak, it’s likely starting to lose color. A big burst of dark berries, black cherry, leather, and pine erupted from the glass along with a whisper of perfumed sandalwood wrapped around a fresh eucalyptus core. Flavors leaned a little more toward dark, nearly dried fruits like fig and cherry along with all that lovely leather and stable. Powdery tannins, high acidity, and a not to be sneezed at abv (14%) all contributed to the medium plus body. Despite the almost dried fruit flavors, the high acidity and suggestion of mint gave the wine a lovely edge of freshness.

Chateau Nuzun Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017

If anyone knows about full-bodied, rich, made to warm you up red wines, it is Chateau Nuzun. Her Cabernet Sauvignon especially, aged first in oak barrels for six months then a further three years in bottle, ticks all those boxes. 

Deep, seriously opaque ruby in the glass, aromas started out as inky dark as the wine with a profusion of black fruits. Spicy notes of pepper and brown spices playfully chased notes of vanilla and mint. The first thing you notice after sipping are the mouthcoating and chewy tannins. High acidity gave the fruit notes a fresh, juicy spin and cleared away the tannins to make space for flavors of brown spice, coffee, and leather. High alcohol at 14.6%, but generally well-balanced by the fruit and overall full body.

Vinkara Reserve Kalecik Karası, 2018

Vinkara, sitting in the heart of Kalecik as it does, makes a wide range of wines from Kalecik Karası. For the cold winter months, the Vinkara Reserve Kalecik Karası, aged 18 months in French oak barrels, is the one you want to reach for!

Layers of fruit and spice unfolded from the almost garnet-colored wine in the glass. Black fruit, fig, plum preserve, and olive peeled back to reveal lashings of black pepper, allspice, and shaved wood. This definitely benefits from decanting and breathing. Medium tannins and acidity were okay right out of the bottle, but the burning heat of high alcohol (14.9%) threw everything off balance. The longer it lived in the glass, the more the initially muted flavors took on the strength to better reflect those sensed on the nose. The hotness of the alcohol never fully went away, but it did equalize enough to allow the wine to be enjoyable.

Urlice Reserve Cabernet Syrah, 2016 

Based in Urla, Urlice winery emphasizes international grapes with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah at the forefront. They aged this blend of the two in oak (for an unspecified amount of time but best guess eight months to a year). 

It poured a medium opaque ruby and burst with aromas of semi-fried black fruits, tobacco, and leather. The scent alone, completed by gentle touches of flowers, brown spices, vanilla, and carob was mouthwatering! A nice level of acidity gave the palate more fresh and vivacious fruit flavors of cherry, red plum, and raspberry. However long the oak ageing was, Urlice handled it well, not overwhelming the fruit flavors but rounding them out with spicy, floral, and leather notes. Well-integrated tannins and alcohol (14.5%) added to the wine’s full body and persisted through a nice, lingering finish.  

While this may be more of a wintery wine, it went marvelously well with caramelized lemon pizza with garlic cream sauce!

Melen Dekante Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017

Melen winery, located along the shores of the Sea of Marmara, produces wine from a wide range of grapes. The best place to find their wines in Istanbul is at Dekante. The shop is such a fan of Melen, that the winery even produces special ‘Dekante’ labels. On my last trip there, they gifted me a bottle of the Melen Dekante Cabernet Sauvignon.

My first thought was a sigh over the heavy format bottle. Too many wineries here still see the heavy bottles as a sign of quality. 

That disappointment aside, I was quite pleased with what was in the bottle! The wine poured a deep and consistent ruby with some nice layers on the nose beginning with grape Nerds (seriously), cassis, red/purple flowers, a touch of vanilla, and a hint of fresh mint. Mouth-filling tannins persisted throughout and carried flavors reflective of the nose. High-ish alcohol at 14% but nicely balanced by the wine’s fruit and acidity level.

Chamlija Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018

It’s been a while since I opened a bottle of Chamlija but the cold weather seemed a good time to pop open the Cabernet Sauvingon! Grapes for this come from the winery’s various vineyards in the Strandja Mountains, grown in soils of quartz-studded limestone and terra rosa. In the winery, it aged for 14 months in a combination of French and Hungarian oak before bottling and release.

Deep purple in the glass, aromas of boysenberry and cassis burst from the glass, swirled with graphite and clay dust. Sleek tannins carried flavors of ever so slightly jammy fruit, lots of raspberry, and a lingering floral finish. High acidity and equally high alcohol (15%) contributed to the wine’s full body and balance.

Please Help Turkey and Syria!

In light of the horrific earthquake that has decimated large areas of Turkey’s south east and northern Syria, please consider donating to one of the relief efforts if you are able:

Animal rights organization Haytap is helping animals affected by the earthquake, and displaced people who need a place to stay with their pets.

Donate to search and rescue efforts in Turkey via Ahbap, Akut and Turkish Red Crescent 

Donate to civil society groups working on the ground to provide immediate relief and medium- to long-term recovery to survivors via UK-based Turkey Mozaik Foundation or US-based Turkish Philanthropy Funds.

To support rescue efforts in Syria, donate to White Helmet and SAMS.

Field Ready Türk‎iye (Sahaya Hazır İnovasyon Derneği) is a team of engineers working in Gaziantep, Turkey, and northwest Syria who make cheap, low-tech airbags for search and rescue from buildings which have collapsed. “If we move fast they can make more,” a good friend who previously worked with the team writes. “The workshops in Syria also have vast experience of fixing essential medical equipment, and making insulated shelters – both greatly needed right now”

Follow Jennifer Hattam on Twitter at The Turkish Life for continued updates on organizations accepting donations and needing local assistance.