Turkish Wine Routes Part Two: Inner Aegean
In Part One of my Turkish Wine Routes series I covered the Urla Bağ Yolu. Now for Part Two, we’re moving east from the Aegean coastal district of Urla to Turkey’s more inland Aegean areas with the İç Ege Bağ Rotası.
İç Ege Bağ Rotası
The İç Ege Bağ Rotası (literally: inner Aegean vineyard route) is a fairly recent invention. At least it is the newest of Turkey’s four wine routes. The route covers a large area; some 11,700 square kilometers. So says Google. It is 200 kilometers from the winery closest to the Aegean (Nif Bağları) to the farthest inland (Küp Şarapçılık) and another 200+ kilometers from Kastro Tireli in the north to Prodom in the 
farthest south of the route. In between…not a whole lot.
Well, I mean there’s not a whole lot of “stuff.” There is, however, a whole lot of stunning landscape. And vines. İç Ege Bağ Rotası includes the the Izmir district of Denizli which itself is home to the Güney Plateau. According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, Turkey ranks 5th in largest vineyard area with 448,000 hectare under vine and 6th in the world in grape production with 4.2 million tons. The majority of those grapes grow in Denizli and the Güney Plateau. Sadly however, less than 3% of Turkish grapes become wine.
The views on the Güney Plateau are remarkable. While it may be a plateau (at some 900 meters above sea level); it is encircled by mountain peaks making you forget at how high of an elevation you are. The expressways that cut across the plateau are lined with vines, vines, and more vines. Most of the vineyards lining the main thoroughfares belong to commercial raisin or molasses factories and vines are trained on trellis systems to make mechanization easy. But if you go off the beaten path a bit you can still find old vineyards scattered with bush vines.
Because this particular route covers such a large area, it is absolutely not navigable in one day. Or even two. Maybe three if you’re hardcore and don’t spend more than an hour and a half to two hours at each winery. Happily though, many of the wineries on this route have attached restaurants, guest houses, or hotels. In addition, they’re located in such a way as to enable one to take them in logical groups. Upper İç Ege Bağ Rotası has Nif, Selendi, Kastro Tireli, Kavaklidere, and Yanık Ülke all along the same main route. Along the lower İç Ege Bağ Rotası route you can find Sevilen, Prodom, Pamukkale, and Küp. Albeit quite far away from each other.
Vineyard on the Güney Plateau
Sevilen (İsabey Bağ Evi) Şarapçılık 
Sevilen is one of Turkey’s largest producers. The company has three main facilities, one along the Sea of Marmara in Mürefte, one in Izmir just a stone’s throw from the airport, and one in Aydın. The Magnesia winery in Aydın is Sevilen’s main production site but the İsabey Bağ Evi near the airport is where visitors go. Here Sevilen offers wine tastings, a cafe in which to relax and have some nibbles with wine, has a large wine shop, and even a small wine museum!
Nif Bağları
Run by young entrepreneur and winemaker Gaye Özcan, Nif Bağları practically exudes girl power. Which I mean in the best way possible. 
While just in her early twenties, Özcan defied the good ole’ boys club of Turkish wine who insisted she could not be successful without planting Bordeaux grapes. She planted Italian grapes and her Montepulciano and Sangiovese are among the best here. Since their first harvest in 2012, Nif has added a cafe restaurant to the slick, modern winery which features young female chefs and food to pair with Nif’s wines. And seven years on, Özcan still doesn’t have any Bordeaux grapes!
LA Şarapçılık
Otherwise known as Domaine Lucien Arkas, LA Wines is the product of a wine loving 
innovator. Lucien Arkas took a floundering winery, Idol Wines, and turned it into a sleek operation with organic farming. This beautiful winery sits just outside Izmir proper and has become a major destination for weddings and events. More than just a pretty location, LA Wines is out to challenge the Turkish palate. This winery is responsible for introducing grapes like Montepulciano, Marselan, Chenin Blanc, and Trebbiano to Turkey.
Prodom Şarapçılık
Prodom Winery is hidden away in an industrial park in Aydın, a little more than an hour outside Izmir. The winery neither has, nor needs, a fancy winery to speak for itself. Its wines do the job just fine. With wine production overseen by expert winemaker Evren Kalkan, Prodom produces between 85-90,000 bottles annually across five labels. The company’s flagship premium line, Prodom means “first juice” and these varietal and blended red, white, and rosé wines are some of Turkey’s top quality wines.
Selendi Şarapçılık
Located on the outskirts of dusty Akhisar is the smaller, but no less organic, Selendi. With vineyards in two locations but totaling only 3.2 hectares, Selendi works with a mix of native and international grapes including: Narince, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Cinsault, Grenache, Merlot, Mourvedre, Petit, Verdot, Shiraz, and Viognier. With a production of under 100,000 bottles annually Selendi sells most of its wine domestically but does export to a few lucky countries. I highly recommend tracking down Selendi’s Narince!
Kastro Tireli Wines
Nearby Selendi, nestled in a large olive grove, is Kastro Tireli Wines. Not only does Kastro Tireli farm organically, but winemaker Işık 
Gulcubuk oversees the production of some of Turkey’s most naturally produced wines. While to many, spontaneous fermentation, limited to no filtration, and a lack of additives might add up to wines that have a wilder, more challenging palate; this is not the case for Kastro Tireli. Gulcubuk achieves a level of quality and elegance with the winery’s powerful reds and rich white wines that remains consistent from vintage to vintage. A consistency she attributes to excellent vineyard practices.
Pamukkale Şarapçılık
Pamukkale Winery takes its name from the famous petrified waterfalls near the winery. With a four million liter capacity and 15 (or more) labels, Pamukkale’s wines are widespread not only in Turkey but also abroad. However, the winery is probably best-known for the line it makes exclusively for Carrefour stores: Sava.
Küp Şarapçılık
Despite being a fairly large player, Küp seems to slide under the radar quite a bit in Turkey. Which is a shame because even the winery’s entry level label, Thia, has a great quality/price balance going on. The winery’s upper tier label Epic can be a little harder to hunt down (or maybe it’s just that I can’t find the Epic Sauvignon Blanc I fell in love with at a tasting). What locals do know Küp for though is its fruit wine. Fruit wine is popular here and Küp has long been one of the biggest (commercial) producers.
Kavaklidere Pendore Bağları
Kavaklidere, another Turkish wine giant, lays claim to being not only one of the largest (19.5 million liter capacity!), but one of the oldest wineries in Turkey. Kavaklidere’s home base is in the capital, Ankara. However, the company also has visitor-friendly wineries in Cappadocia and Izmir. Pendore, the Izmir-based winery, is responsible for churning out some of Kavaklidere’s high-end wines.
Yanık Ülke Bağları
Located on the rocky volcanic slopes of the Divlit Volcano, Yanık Ülke Bağları prides itself on having terroir similar to Etna. To that end, the winery also cultivates southern Italian grape varieties like Cataratto, Nerello Mascaelse, and Nerello Cappuccio. Visitors here can take advantage of the attached tasting room, shop, and restaurant while enjoying the magnificent vista around the vineyards. And if you think you might imbibe a little too much, Yanık Ülke also has a hotel!