Vino Dessera Pürneşe Blush
Pürneşe red label
Pürneşe is a semi-new series from Vino Dessera. Occupying a place in the winery’s mid-range line up, the Pürneşe series includes a red blend and a blush. I have had them both but it was the blush that really stood out for me.
Vino Dessera brings in grapes from vineyards across Turkey. For the Pürneşe Blush, they used Çalkarası and Kalecik Karası from Denizli in the western Aegean. Kalecik Karası we frequently see as both varietal and blended rosés. Very few wineries really work with Çalkarası though. The exception to that has been Paşaeli and it’s nice to see other wineries, like Vino Dessera, highlighting what has long been considered to be a mere workhorse grape.
But before I move onto the tasting note for this one, let me take a moment to talk about the fantastic labels on this new series! The labels for both the red and blush wrap all the way around the bottle and provide a visual explanation of how red and blush wines get made. With the assistance of some adorable, anthropomorphized grape characters! I love a clever label.
Vino Dessera Pürneşe Blush, 2019
Deep, peony pink tinged with orange in the glass. Delightful red fruits on the nose with wild strawberry and cranberry. Strawberry leaf, fresh green herbs, and white pepper rounded it all out. Acidity just this side of effervescent greeted the first sip and added an extra brightness to the crunchy red fruit flavors. As with the nose, here too fresh green herbs and white pepper added a depth and savory edge to the palate. Lively and deceptively light (despite the 13% abv), this is a great wine both for just sipping but also for food.
Speaking of food!
My last visit to Vino Dessera was sadly almost a year ago now! During the visit I tried this blush for the first time and was really quite impressed with it. A friend of mine who just happens to be their sommelier, recommended pairing this wine with a spaghetti Carbonara. I can never get a Carbonara to come out right (blasted eggs defeat me) but even with my poor attempt at the dish I had to agree that it really was a fantastic pairing! Since doing this I learned a few tricks that will hopefully make my next Carbonara attempt go more smoothly. I’ve got another bottle of this wine and look forward to doing this again!