Melen 2007 Papaskarası Reserve
Just a few years ago, Papaskarası, a black grape native to Turkey’s Thrace, was something of a novelty. Very few producers worked with it. Nowadays it seems to be the next big thing in Turkish wine. The number of producers using it has grown and you can find it as varietal red and rosé wines and in blends. There are even a few blanc de noirs floating around.
Melen Winery, located in the Hoşköy village of Thrace’s Tekirdağ district, is one of those few wineries that has been working with Papaskarası for quite some time. A family-run winery since the 1920s, it’s also one of the oldest continuous running wineries in Turkey. While Melen has something of an uneven performance, Papaskarası lives right in its wheelhouse.
It’s difficult to find wine outside the winery itself (and sometimes even then!) that is more than a handful of vintages old. Sadly only a small percentage of wineries here emphasize bottle ageing before release; but that’s a future post! So I am usually particularly delighted to stumble across an older wine. This one I bought at one of my favorite Istanbul bottle shops, Rind.
Melen Papaskarası 2007 Reserve
While more popular now than even a few years ago, Papaskarası is still such an underutilized grape that it’s difficult to define it. Experimental winemaking and using it in different styles (e.g. rosé and blanc de noirs) further confuses its intrinsic characteristics. Personally though, if any wine here captures what it is to be Papaskarası, it is this one.
This is the oldest Papaskarası I’ve been able to get my hands on and based on this, I can say this is a grape that makes age-worthy wines. We were treated to a slew of well-developed tertiary aromas in the bouquet. Earthy with forest and moss, tobacco, black pepper, and leather lead the charge but there was also some red fruit hanging on, buried under the forest floor as it were. Lovely balance on the palate with seductive tannins playing off mouth-watering acid. Medium-bodied with a surprisingly low alcohol (12.5% ab) and well-integrated oak, this Melen Papaskarası Reserve knocked my socks off.
Looking for other Papaskarası wines to try? Try Paşaeli’s, Chamlija’s Karasevda, or Chamlija’s Papaskarası – Cabernet Sauvignon blend.