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Turkey vs Germany Taste Off: Riesling

 

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Riesling is one of my absolute favorite grapes in the whole wide world. I have a three-way tie going for ‘favorite grape’ title and Riesling is one of the trifecta. Bone dry, lusciously sweet and every variable between, I love it. But, Riesling in Turkey?

Riesling in Turkey

Quite interesting, Riesling was one of the first foreign grapes to come to Turkey during the start of the modern wine industry. Back in the 1930s, Nihat A. Kutman, founder of Doluca Şarapları, made exploratory visits to France and Germany looking for grapes that might do well in his Mürefte vineyards. One of those grapes was Riesling.

Very few are planting Riesling anymore. Low-lying, semi-Mediterranean Mürefte along the Sea of Marmara was certainly not a good destination for this grape. If Doluca works with it at all anymore, they’re keeping it quiet. Turasan makes a sweet Riesling (which I haven’t tried because it’s over priced for what it is). Vinkara has a new Riesling in its Atelier series. I did try that one and it tasted like white wine. But not like Riesling.

The closest anyone has come to making something here that captures the essence of the grape is the Chamlija Riesling. There are a few places in Turkey where Riesling could grow properly and, with vineyards in the interesting quartz, clays, and other soils of the Strandja Mountains, Mustafa grows in one of those locations. The caveat to his Riesling though, is that it needs to age. I’ve had some of his younger Riesling and they taste like white wine. Nice white wine, but not Riesling. Put a few years on the bottle though and the story changes.

A few years ago a new (at the time) winery, Yükseltan, popped up with a Riesling. With previous Turkish performance [with this grape] being such a mixed bag, I thought, let’s see how this new producer stacks up against the Germans.

In Turkey’s Corner: Yükseltan 

Yükseltan Bağ Evi is located in Gelibolu, near the “start” of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Here on the Gulf of Saros, the winery’s 140 hectares has the Sea of Marmara on one side and the Aegean Sea on the other. Cross winds from these bodies of water contribute greatly to vineyard health, keeping vines cool and helping mitigate pests and diseases. They go a long way in making it easier for Yükseltan to farm organically.

The winery works exclusively with foreign grapes including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling.

While the vineyards do sit at some elevation (give or take 120 meters), neither it nor the sea breezes are enough to mitigate the hot, Mediterranean climate for a cool weather loving grape such as Riesling. Nor are Gallipoli’s generally alluvial, sandy-silty soils quite what the grape usually prefers.

Yükseltan Riesling, 2020

The first thing I noticed when I opened the wine was the cheapness of the cork. It looked grainy, like an agglomerated cork made from cork granules and synthetic glue. I’m all for saving money, and these cost significantly less than natural corks. However, this kind of cork is really only appropriate for wines intended for a short self-life of maybe two years.

By its very nature, Riesling will live in the bottle much longer than that.

Yet, many wineries use these agglomerated corks and have no problem. But, when this still young wine poured a golden color, I began to wonder if there were a problem. The nose gave tangy and briny aromas mixed with orange peel and an herbal undertone. On the palate, hay and dried chamomile warred with the tang. Not overly oxidized in the end, but also not what a young Riesling should look or taste like.

In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to drink it. I didn’t even bother to photograph the wine or bottle, thus the image borrowed from iyisarap.