New White Wines with Vino Dessera Entrika
Over the last two vintages, the Vino Dessera Entrika line has expanded both its offerings and its reach across Turkey. For the 2020 vintage, Vino Dessera debuted its Entrika Emir and the Entrika Narince for the 2021 vintage.
Itself based in Kırklareli in Thrace, Vino Dessera’s own vineyards grow a variety of (mostly international) grapes. The winery has long sourced native varieties from their respective “homelands”: Öküzgözü from Elazığ, Çalkarası from Denizli, etc. With a combination of grape sources, how do you know where they’re from? Check the graphic on the back label! Vino Dessera’s wines include a small map of Turkey that pinpoints the grapes’ origin. 
Vino Dessera Entrika Emir, 2020
For the Entrika Emir, Vino Dessera brings in the grapes from Cappadocia and you can smell the Cappadocia in the glass! It pours a medium, cool straw with green highlights … and rather smells like it looks.
A crisp wine with a citrusy character, notes of lemongrass and flint detail a core of turunç* and lime fruit. While the palate delivered a less intense variation on the nose, all the flavors were present and accounted for, resting on moderate alcohol (13.65%), and framed by a lively acidity.
Not a full expression of Emir but still recognizable as Emir. And very drinkable. I quite enjoyed it.
*I had to look up the translation for this fruit as oddly I apparently only knew the Turkish word! A turunç seems to be a bitter orange or Seville orange.
Vino Dessera Entrika Narince, 2021
According to the map on the bottle, the Narince the winery used for this new Entrika wine came from Kırklareli and not Tokat. Which might explain what happened in the glass.
The wine poured a very cool lemon, paler than Narince usually appears. Very shy on the nose, it took the wine coming up to almost room temperature before it agreed to give up aromas of red apple, kumquat, and a splash of lemon. While I really appreciated the low alcohol (10.8%! almost unheard of here), I’d have traded up a few points of alcohol for a more assertive palate which was hollow and lacking acidity and flavor intensity.
Not as successful as the Emir but I appreciate the foray into more native grapes. Hopefully the 22 vintage will be something more.