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Good wine has been
produced in Turkey since
Neolithic Hittite times,
and still is.
Several of Anatolia's climatic
regions, inluding the Marmara and Aegean,
the East around
Elazığ, and the Southeast near Diyarbakır,
some with volcanic soil (such as Cappadocia),
are suitable for producing wine grapes.
In the past, the grapes have mostly
been local traditional varieties such
as Öküzgözü (Ox-eye)
from Elazığ and Boğazkere from
Diyarbakır,
but Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon
blanc, Merlot, Carignan,
and Alicante are now
being used for premium wines as well.
The standards were set for Turkish
wines in the mid-1900s by the Kavaklıdere and
Doluca (DOHL-oo-jah)
vineyards. Simple table wines such
as Kavak and
the better Çankaya (white), Dikmen and
the better Yakut (red), Lâl (rosé/blush)
and Villa Doluca (white and
red) are drinkable and not the most
expensive.
In Cappadocia,
the Kocabağ (KOH-jah-bah)
and Turasan (TOO-rah-sahn)
labels are two to try. I prefer the Kocabağ,
especially their Öküzgözü and Cabernet
Sauvignon reds.
Tatlısert, by the
way, is a fortified red similar to
port.
The best place to look for and buy
Turkish wines is a Sensus
Wine
& Cheese Shop. More...
In the 1990s, after changes in the
laws governing alcoholic beverages,
small local vintners began to make
varietal
wines
of
good quality. The best wines are often
from the well-run vineyards of
wealthy industrial and commercial families.
Discerning (and wealthy)
Turkish wine-drinkers are only a small
market, and the Islamist government
has levied high taxes on alcoholic
beverages, so sipping wine with dinner
is surprisingly
expensive.
At a recent dinner in a famous Istanbul restaurant, main course plates were
priced around TL18, but the cheapest bottle of wine was TL60, with others
as high as TL125.
Though table wines such
as the red Kavaklidere Dikmen
and basic Doluca labels
sell for TL15
to TL20
in shops, and mid-priced Villa
Doluca and Kavaklıdere's Çankaya white
for TL18
to TL22,
Kavaklidere's red Yakut
and other upscale wines
such as Kavaklidere's Egeo wines,
and Angora,
Ancyra and Vinart appellation/vintage
years can
cost TL30
or more in a shop, and 2-1/2 to 3 times
as much in a restaurant.
Prices for imported wines can
be even higher. The inexpensive wine
you're used to drinking at home may
be a premium-priced wine in Turkey.
High taxes also
play their part in the high price of
wine. The tax just about doubles the
cost of a bottle of inexpensive table
wine. In part because of the high taxes,
I'm told there is a large illegal,
untaxed and uncontrolled wine industry that
competes unfairly with the legitimate
vintners and may put the health of
the wine-drinking public in danger.
Although the governing center-right
AKP party denies that it acts against
those who drink alcoholic beverages,
the cost of enjoying a glass of wine—or
indeed any alcoholic beverage—has
risen dramatically during their tenure
in office.
The peoples of the Byzantine
Empire enjoyed their wines and
developed careful cultivation methods
for their grapes.
Under the Ottoman
Empire, the sultan's Muslim subjects
largely abstained, but his Christian
and Jewish subjects
continued to make and drink wine.
With the fall of the empire (1923)
and founding of the European-style Turkish
Republic, many citizens of Greek
heritage moved to Greece, but in the
secular republic wine-making was encouraged.
During the holy month of Ramazan,
alcoholic beverages are less in evidence,
following traditional customs.
More...
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