Toast to Türkiye’s wine renaissance

As the evening light falls on her vineyards in northwestern Türkiye, Zeynep Arca Salliel pinches the grapes and tastes the skin. It is harvest time.

Aided by an Italian wine expert, the 50-year-old took up winemaking professionally in the 2000s, aged 30, after the lifting of a state monopoly on alcohol sales that favoured large producers.

Today, her Arcadia estate, two and-a-half hours from Istanbul in the Thrace region, produces between 120 000 and 150 000 bottles per year, using both international and local grape varieties. Yet she considers herself “an endangered species”.

“The changing climate, the economic crisis, inflation” and a “lack of visibility” have contributed to her troubles.

“We produce quality wines but have had difficulty selling them domestically and exporting them,” she said.

Winegrowers say taxes, bureaucracy and sometimes farcical laws are killing production.

A whole generation of newcomers, including many women, often trained abroad, has sparked a wine renaissance in Türkiye, said Goknur Gundogan, a sommelier and consultant.

Türkiye has about 250 estates, half focused on quality wines.

Curious winemakers cultivate international grape varieties such as Cabernet, Sauvignon and Merlot for the domestic market.

They also experiment with local varieties, from white grapes Narince, Kolorko and Papaskarasi to Karasakiz reds.

EXPORT DIFFICULTIES. Workers put foil (capsule-conge) on top of wine bottles at a winery in Hamitabat district of Kirklareli. Picture: AFP

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Anatolian heritage

Of the thousand native Turkish grape varieties identified by renowned French grapevine classifier Pierre Galet, 15 are grown for wine and enjoy real success, according to Gundogan.

When international critics came to Türkiye in 2009, they tasted about 50 wines, but only six were local varieties, said Umay Ceviker, founder of Yaban Kolektif, which is dedicated to preserving Anatolia’s viticulture heritage.

This year there were 85 wines, “all from local varieties”, he added.

Turkish wine-making had a boom between 2002 and 2013, but authorities then banned all advertising and organising of viticultural festivals.

Although wine has been made here for millennia, Türkiye is predominantly Muslim and its conservative president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “does not want Turks to consume it”, said Gundogan.

“We can’t do any promotions. We’re even afraid to post a photo on Instagram,” said Metin Harbalioglu.

Seyit Karagozoglu, 58, the founder of the Pasaeli winery, was a pioneer investor in several grape varieties.

He exports to the US, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

But he bemoaned the Turkish authorities’ attitude. For Ceviker, authorities “are not interested in promoting wine as a very Turkish speciality”.

Türkiye was once among the world’s top 10 wine exporters but now only exports 3% of its production.

TASTING. Arcadia vineyards Zeynep Arca Salliel and Italian oenologist Andrea Paoletti sip new wines. Picture: AFP

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