I gladly accepted the invitation from the Turkish Tourism Development and Promotion Agency, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, for a wine tour of Thrace. Turkiye has a fascinating history that has greatly influenced our own culture, as Wallachia and Moldavia were under the influence of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years. In 2020, Turkey had 416,900 hectares of vineyards, according to OIV data, with the majority being table grapes and seedless grapes used for raisin production. Currently, the area dedicated to wine production is 63,700 hectares, yielding approximately 488,000 tons, spread across seven regions: Mediterranean, Eastern Anatolia, Aegean, Southeastern Anatolia, Black Sea, Marmara, and Central Anatolia. The declining trend in total planted area is due to the disappearance of the state monopoly (TEKEL) and global trends, but the number of wineries is increasing, as is the quality of the wine produced. Wine production is still in its early stages, with many wineries established in the last 20 years. Notably, many wineries cultivate traditional grape varieties more than international ones.

Turkey is a tourist destination that offers an impressive variety of experiences to suit all tastes. Here you can find practically anything you can imagine: https://goturkiye.com. After spending several days in Istanbul, we set off on the wine route in Thrace, the European part of Turkey, along the Sea of Marmara, towards new tourist destinations that necessarily include wine. Why? To discover how you can combine a passion for wine with new places to explore, for example, on a vacation or a city break where you want to be surprised by the local flavours. Our first stop was in the Tekirdag area.

Badur Winery was our first stop, a small family-run winery covering 1 hectare, run by a young team consisting of a chemical engineer and an archaeologist. The winery is still under construction and released its first wine in 2019, now reaching a production of 8,000 bottles per year. It is located in an area with sandy-clay soil and a Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers, with high temperatures tempered by the influence of the Sea of Marmara. The owners combine their passion for wine with archaeology, as the winery hosts a small museum with artifacts found in the area, proving that winemaking has been a tradition here for millennias. Most of the planted varieties are red, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, with a few rows of Sauvignon Blanc newly planted this year.

As a result, we tasted a rosé wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, produced using the saignée method, which means that immediately after crushing, 20-30% of the clear must was taken from the fresh mash to be fermented separately, resulting in this wine. A fresh wine from 2023, dry with high alcohol balanced by a robust structure. This was followed by a series of three blends made from equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The first two from 2020 differed in their maturation location, the first aged for 4 months in American oak barrels, 30% of which were new, and the second in French oak, both with firm tannins, adhering to the gums and flavors dominated by coconut and vanilla, depending on the wood’s origin, with black fruits, currants, and blackberries struggling to emerge. The last one from 2022, clearly a warmer year, with more fruit, more balanced, with ripe fruits, black cherries, and plums with licorice notes enhancing a strong, persistent structure. Freshly bottled, three months before we tasted it, promising to evolve beautifully in the bottle. A natural, good evolution of the winemaking style. After taking a look at the vineyard, we headed to our next destination.

Barbare Winery & Vineyards – a winery with a stunning location atop a hill, part of the high shore of the Sea of Marmara. Covering 37 hectares and producing 300,000 bottles annually, it is a family-run business dedicated to hospitality, featuring a hotel and restaurant with an extraordinary view, managed by the owner’s daughter, Dennis Topsakal. The vineyard was established in the 2000s, with a preference for international varieties and a French consultant. The vineyard is composed of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc for red grapes, with plans to plant Malbec in the future, and Sauvignon Blanc already in place for whites, with Vermentino planned for the future. The harvest varies from 100,000 to 200,000 liters depending on the year’s conditions. Their affinity for France and its wines is evident in their ownership of a 17-hectare winery in Provence and their French consultant. Generally, the wines are fermented and left on the skins for about 6-7 months for intense extraction of flavor and color, then matured for 15 to 18 months in barrels, followed by bottle aging, so a red wine does not leave the winery before 4-5 years and usually has great aging potential.

We tasted the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc, spontaneously fermented, fresh and pleasant, and a 2022 Grenache rosé followed by a series of four red wines, each from a different vintage between 2016 and 2019, in different blends. The standout was “Ambiance,” a Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre blend that impressed with its balance and fruitiness. The dishes served were based on local cuisine with a modern twist. I’d say they still need to work on pairings and developing wines that truly represent them.

Exhausted after a long drive and two wineries, we stayed at a seaside resort preparing for the upcoming season, Pia Mare Hotel & Resort. I liked the bungalows spread along the sea and my enormous room with a view of the inner garden with the sea in the background through the trees. It reminded me a bit of Neptun and the villas there. The highlight of the evening was dinner, of course, prepared by a chef at the resort’s “Fume” restaurant, worthy of Michelin stars, a delight. We started with a welcome drink of Champagne to celebrate the event, followed by a perfect pairing with various wines. We began with Chateau Murou Semillon 2019, rounded with ripe fruits, a full body, and medium acidity paired with meze, crostini with avocado and shrimp, salmon, and labneh. Next was the 2021 Papaskarasi Buyulubag, a fresh red wine with high acidity, ripe, even dried fruits, figs, black cherries, raisins, and cranberries, a combination of red and black fruits paired with celery tartare, spinach, and parmesan with a lemon-based reduction. Karasi means black, so anything ending with this word yields red wines. The following Cabernet Sauvignon Sari Vadi, a very balanced wine with green pepper and black fruit aromas, ripe tannins, and serious persistence, had a happy pairing with mushroom risotto, a kind of couscous risotto, with which it matched perfectly. For the main course, the oven-roasted goat with cauliflower puree was sensational alongside Caledoc, a variety from southern France, a cross between Grenache and Malbec. A juicy, fruity, meaty wine with concentrated aromas, a velvety structure, and long-lasting persistence. The dessert of crunchy pumpkin with milk ice cream marked the beginning of the end of this Pantagruelian dinner, which we concluded with five-year-aged Horincă from Stefan Gogota’s Horincia, local Raki, and an international GT around the campfire on the terrace. A feast and a memorable party that made the morning not so clear. Setting off on a longer journey, we had time to recover before the next winery. We stopped somewhere in the mountains for tea and a breath of fresh air, and with renewed energy, we reached our next destination.

Melen Vineyards, covering 20 hectares on the high shore of the Marmara Sea at an altitude of 250-300m near Canakkale, is situated in the courtyard of a former Greek monastery, Manastir Bagevi, on volcanic soil composed of various layers of granite, schist, and even clay. The southwest-facing plantations are exposed to winds coming from the sea, which protect the vines from humidity but can sometimes be quite strong. We are practically in an area colonized by ancient Greeks who likely influenced viticulture here, and the emblem on the amphorae found in the area is the winery’s symbol. This family business, driven by a lot of passion, is evident in how the owner, Cem, speaks about his wines.

We started with a tasting of 5 wines to get familiar with the winery’s specific style. Most of the cultivated varieties are indigenous, and the first wine we tasted is called Hypatia, named after the female mathematician from 4th century Alexandria, in her honor. The 2022 vintage is a blend of 70% Bornova Misketi and 30% Sauvignon Blanc. Both varieties were vinified separately with spontaneous fermentation after 4-5 days of pellicular maceration at 4-5°C, during which a carbonic maceration also began, followed by 3-4 months on lees, which is noticeable in the initial aromas of dough, bread, apricot, grapefruit, and lime, all set on a crisp acidity with a certain salty minerality and a full, savory body.

The second wine, a 2022 vintage Papazkarasi, is an ancient variety believed to have been present since the Byzantine Empire and originating from this region. Controlled temperature fermentation for 25 days with maceration but without barrel aging developed aromas of cherries and cranberries with smoky notes, high acidity, and intense tannins, a still young wine with a long aging potential. Next was the 2021 Karalahna, fermented for a month at 22-25°C for a high extraction of aromas, color, and tannins, which we find in the wine along with riper fruits compared to 2022; besides blackberries, we have black olives on a structure with everything elevated—alcohol, tannins, acidity.

The winery’s signature, as the producer told us, is this high extraction of color, aromas, and tannins, which admittedly would pair well with game and heavy sauces, but it’s a trend that might pass. The first international variety, Merlot Reserve 2016, already an evolved, jammy wine from a low-yield vineyard of 4000l/ha with black fruits, plums, currants, and high tannins balanced by a juicy structure.

We concluded the tasting grandiosely with a special wine from the cellar, one from 1955, which our host takes great care of because it is special. Another bottle was used when he proposed to his now-wife, and one of their children, who translated for us during the tasting, is 24 years old. So you can imagine the importance of this wine, which is still holding up well at 69 years old! A rare aromatic complexity with intense aromas of caramel, burnt sugar cream, dried fruits, figs, apricots, walnuts, and almonds supported by lively acidity, a wine full of life that will be around for many more years. In fact, 1955 was the last vintage of the winery that operated here before.

After the tasting and before lunch, we took a break to walk through the vineyard and the monastery courtyard to learn some interesting things. The monastery also functioned as a school in the area, having its own vineyard and garden, practically self-sufficient. We found bay trees, old Greek tiles, and traces of wild boar in the garden, a fairytale place worth visiting.

So, we returned refreshed and hungry to start the second part, this time pairing wine with local food, a service that the winery offers to all visitors. We started again with a golden 2017 Riesling with Sauvignon Blanc, with citrus aromas and an oily, full structure with a salty flavor and medium acidity, perfectly paired with salad, vine leaf sarma, artichokes with beans, and salmon on the side, with the 2023 Papazkarasi rosé, branded Kiz Kulesi, as an alternative, with strawberry and raspberry aromas, delicate and elegant.

A kind of flatter ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta, seasoned with roasted nuts and olive oil, paired very well with the next wine, another indigenous variety, Okuzgozu 2022, branded Ganahora, full of red fruits, plums, cranberries, pomegranate with an elegant structure, full of freshness.

The main course was oven-roasted goat with spices in two versions, one boiled, reminiscent of lamb stew with many green herbs, and the other well-seasoned roast with local couscous. Both melted in your mouth and were accompanied by a 2017 Shiraz with a structure of firm tannins, slightly salty, supported by ripe and dried fruits, blackberries, raisins, figs with a peppery finish, simply divine. I practically celebrated Easter all week with this trip.

No meal here ends without dessert! Hamburg Misketi 2006 Granahora, a fortified wine, perfectly complemented the milk pudding with mulberry syrup from the tree in the garden.

It was the warmest encounter, full of emotion, where we truly felt important and welcomed.

 

Chateau Gali was our next stop, a bit further south of Canakkale, near the entrance to the Dardanelles Strait. This is a larger winery, covering 30 hectares, located on the seaside at an altitude of 220 meters on limestone soil, currently producing 30,000 bottles annually. However, it is set to develop further, as the coastal defence bunkers built during World War II, which are part of the winery’s property, are planned to be converted into accommodation spaces. Visiting them, I must say, despite being underground, the ventilation is fantastic.

The planted varieties here are exclusively international, with a French consultant, and the owner wanted a Bordeaux-style chateau. We started with a 2020 Viognier, mineral and salty, with aromas of apricots and peaches and a well-defined structure. Also from 2020, a Merlot with Cabernet Franc in equal proportions, juicy and full of fruit, without barrel aging, with the same characteristic sapidity of the area. The star of the tasting was a 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc blend, featuring ripe fruits, blackberries, plums, black currants, notes of ink, bell pepper, tomato leaves, and mint, highlighted by a well-defined structure with high, ripe tannins and a prolonged finish. The 2016 Merlot revealed the aging potential of the winery’s wines, in an amazing location with an extraordinary view of the strait.

Enjoying the winery visits so much, we decided to save the visit to Troy for next time, along with crossing the bridge built by the South Koreans over the Dardanelles, and we headed relatively quickly to the next winery, where we would also spend the night: Asmadan Winery. Actually, the spa and hotel are called Bengodi, and the location and rooms were superb. High-ceilinged spaces of 5-8 meters, a place where you can breathe and savor the place through wine and food. We didn’t have much time to enjoy the rooms and relax in the comfort offered, as we quickly went down for tasting and dinner to learn more about the winery.

The vineyard was planted in 1998, but the current owners had their first harvest in 2018. The orientation of the plantations is northwest, at 500-600 meters altitude, exposed to the winds, and produces approximately 400,000 bottles annually. We tasted a 2022 Semillon from a 50-60-year-old plantation, fermented in oak barrels with batonnage, very creamy and mineral, with lots of citrus, especially lemon and lemon peel. Next was a 2022 Fumé Blanc (Sauvignon Blanc), fermented and aged for 7 months in 500-liter barrels, with the wood well-integrated, more felt in the structure, fresh and fine.

We then moved on to the next three red wines: a 2020 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Okuzgozu, and Bogazkere, dominated by red fruits, with notes of blood that envelop a structure with high alcohol and tannins, well-defined. Next was a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Aegean coast, with intense aromas of black currants, blackberries, plums, and pepper, supporting a strong structure with high tannins that are starting to round out with bottle aging. The last one, a 2019 Syrah from another area with a continental climate, thus warm, moderated by the altitude of 900-950 meters from Deniz province, spent 12-13 months in second or third-use barrels, with warm aromas of ripe fruits on a vibrant and velvety structure. The tasting was accompanied by Csari cheeses, made locally by the same owners.

Between the tasting and preparing dinner, we visited the winery and the museum, which reviews the main stages this territory has gone through and evidence of viticulture, with two important complaints: first, that the Greeks did not bring viticulture to Romania, as they claim, and second, more importantly, that Malta is not on the map they drew. We were then pampered with a light gourmet dinner, as usual, consisting of beet carpaccio with goat cheese, oven-roasted lamb with chestnut puree and sauce, and a kind of pudding for dessert with cinnamon and chestnuts, which I tried to avoid after a whole week of feasting. It’s also important to mention the breakfast, which we had for the first time this trip, quite early, to end properly before heading to the airport.

I would conclude by saying that the promotion of Turkey by the tourism promotion agency, focused on wine tourism, is an immense benefit available to wineries offering most of these services. It is an integration into the historical tradition of the places.