You would be forgiven if you didn’t immediately associate Wine with Turkiye, however, not only is the country home to around 1200 varieties of the European Grapevine (of which 60 are used for commercial purposes) but it’s also the fourth leading producer of grapes for wine production in the world. If you look back into the catacombs of history, it will also tell you that Turkiye is probably one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world, dating back to around 7000 years.
It’s Turkiye’s climate that makes it so perfect for grape production with areas such as Thrace, Kirklareli and the Aegean coast responsible for around 60% of the total production, with the rest coming from pockets in and around the Eastern and Central Anatolia regions.
Within the area of Marmara you’ll find grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aegean is home to Chenin-Blanc, Trebbiano, Shiraz, Grenache and Carignan. The Black Sea Region, Central Anatolia Region, Mediterranean, Eastern Anatolia & South Eastern Anatolia regions produce grapes such as Narince, Dimrit, Dökülgen, Öküzgözü and others.
Even though Turkiye’s first private sector wine producer was established in 1929, one of the most established and well loved stories is of the Sevilen Vineyard & Winery which was founded in 1942 by Isa Güner who arrived here from Bulgaria, and whose family still produce wine to this day, along with running one of the best restaurants in the Aegean, İsabey Bağları. In fact, the Aegean is also where the winner of the 2022 Gold medal Decanter World Wine Awards is based – at the Perdix family run vineyard, producers of the Boğazkere 2017 vintage.
You also can’t talk about Turkish Wines, without at least giving a mention to the Gülor Vineyards, which were founded by Güler Sabancı in 1995, and are famous for producing the country’s first commercial Bordeaux-style wines. Grape varieties first used here include Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but recently varieties have expanded to Shiraz, Malbec and Petit Verdot. For Wine Enthusiasts (of which Vineyard Tours & Holidays are becoming ever more popular) then the Bakucha Vineyard Hotel at the Arcadia Vineyards in the Trakya Region is definitely worthy of a visit.
Another Gold Winner (this time at the Korea Wine Challenge 2022) was the Bona Dea 2013 vintage, produced by Şeyla Ergenekon and her husband Çağatay of Chateau Ergenekon, one of the smallest organic vineyards in Turkey.
One of Turkiye’s youngest wine producing Regions is Cal, where you’ll find the Kuzubag Vineyard who are mainly responsible for producing the local Çalkarası grape as well as Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, and Narince. Here you’ll also find Kup, Lermonos and Hanchalar. One of the hardest regions to produce Wine is Anatolia, but success can still be found here for example at Tafali which opened in 2019, Turasan (one of the oldest in the region) and Vinolus which is one of only a handful who hold an Ecocert Label.
Considering that Wine isn’t really our Forte, it’s more Property Related, if you do want to find out more information about the best Wine Producing Regions, then we refer you to the article written by Feride Yalav-Heckeroth, a freelance writer who is based not too far from Istanbul. You can read this here:
