Turkey

 
Doluca

Doluca started making wines in 1926, when Nihat A. Kutman returned to Turkey after studying at the Geisenheim Wine Institute in Germany.  In the early years, he produced wines from domestic grape varieties such as Yapincak and Karalahna, but he soon began planting imported varieties such as cinsault, Semillon, gamay and riesling.  Nihat Kutman’s son, Ahmet Kutman, studied at University of California at Davis, and after graduation oversaw the expansion of Doluca.  In 1990, Ahmet Kutman joined with an old school friend to found Sarafin, which produces wines made from international grape varieties grown on 250 acres of newly planted vineyards near the shores of Saros Bay, Gallipoli.

Doluca is based at Mürefte, on the coast of the Sea of Marmara.

2006 Kalecik Karasi DLC, Doluca
Brightish red fruit on the nose.  Interesting palate.  There’s some strawberry fruit initially, then a curiously attractive astringent note before finishing with a nice red fruit freshness.  85/100

2006 Öküzgözü DLC, Doluca, 12.5%
The grapes for this wine (the name of the grape apparently means eye of the ox) come from south-east Turkey near the Syrian border, though the Doluca winery is in north west Turkey near the Greek border.
It has quite a nice floral note on the nose.  It’s clean and fresh on the palate with red fruits followed by a hint of chocolate.  Soft tannins on the finish.  90/100

2004 Kav. Bogazkere- Öküzgözü, Doluca, 12.5%
The Bogazkere grapes comes from south east Anatolia, while the Öküzgözü grapes are sourced in Eastern Anatolia.  The wine is aged for 12 months in French oak.  The oak is very noticeable on the nose, masking the fruit.  In the mouth, it’s big, oaky and hard work.  81/100

NV Villa Doluca Neo
This is a blend of bogazkere, öküzgözü and kalecik karasi.  It shows some stewed strawberries and black fruit on the nose.  A light fresh attack.  It’s fairly simple but works well enough for what it is.  85/100

NV Villa Doluca Klasik
This is the “traditional” Villa Doluca and is a blend of öküzgözü, Alicante and carignan.  There’s red fruit and black fruit on the nose, with a floral freshness.  Very bright palate – there’s fruit but also a pretty high acidity.  Interesting, especially for such a very commercial wine.  85/100

2004 Karma Merlot-Bogazkere, Doluca
Karma is Doluca’s premium range, primarily marketed to the on-trade in Europe.  The twelve months this has spent in French oak is evident on the nose, with plummy black fruit behind.  Good palate.  Serious and big, without being overdone.  87/100

Sevilen

2006 Kalecik Karasi, Sevilen, Ege Bölgesi, Turkey, 13.5%
There’s bright cherry fruit on the nose.  The palate is lightish and fresh.  It’s certainly attractive, but there’s also a nice structure there, evident on the finish.  There’s a rather interesting red fruit character that’s slightly scented.  89/100

2006 Bogazkere & Okuzgozu, Sevilen, Ege Bölgesi, Turkey
Bogazkere is apparently a very tannic grape.  There deep black fruits on the nose.  A big palate, but there are some interesting flavours.  There’s a nice structure and deep black fruit which continue with lighter, more raspberry flavours.  Very interesting wine.  92/100

2007 Syrah-Kalecik Karasi Sevilen, Ege Bölgesi, Turkey
A very deep strawberry (some of which are stewed) and plum nose.  Very wide entry profile.  Full-on fruit gives way to some structure and firmish tannins on the finish.  88/100

 For more notes on Sevilen wines follow this link.

 

Pamukkale Sarapcilik
The Pamukkale Winery was established by Fevzi Tokat in the Güney region of Denizli in 1962.  It is still a family business, but has gone from the initial 100,000 litre capacity in 1962 to 4 million litres today.  20% of the production goes to the EU, principally France and Germany. 
The Güney region is located to the north of Denizli province, near the town of Usak, about 160 miles due south of Istanbul.  The area is a plateau situated 850 metres above sea level.

2006 Senfoni Sultaniye Dry White Wine, Pamukkale, Turkey, 12.5%
The Senfoni wines are Pamukkale’s entry level wines.  This is a blend of Emir grapes from Cappadocia in central Anatolia and Semillon from Thrace.  It has a nice light, fresh nose.  Crisp and clean on the palate with decent fruit flavours.  Finishes well, with pear fruit lingering long after.  83/100

2006 Chardonnay-Narince Sultaniye, Anfora Trio, Pamukkale, Turkey, 12.5%
This is a blend of narince grapes from Tokat, chardonnay from the Güney region and Semillon from Tekirdag.  This has an interesting nose: fairly rich, with a bit of caramelised apple.  Clean and fresh on the palate; and very long. 83/100

2006 Senfoni Çalkarası – Boğazkere, Pamukkale, Güney, Turkey, 12.5%
The nose has blackberry and mulberry fruits.  Very deep palate.  Some interesting nutty-fruit-kernel flavours.  An interesting wine for an entry level range.  86/100

2006 Anfora Öküzgözü – Boğazkere, Pamukkale, Güney, Turkey, 12%
On the nose, there is muted blackberry fruit.  On the palate, it’s very firmly structured with very, very solid tannins dominating.  83/100

2005 Anfora Trio Shiraz-Kalecik Karasi-Cabernet Sauvignon, Pamukkale, Güney, Turkey, 12.5%
There are cherry-curranty aromas on the nose.  Good palate with interesting fruit.  87/100

2006 Anfora Kalecik Karasi, Pamukkale, Güney, Turkey, 13%
The nose has fresh, minerally red fruit.  Very nice balance on the palate: there’s good red fruit and a touch of acidity.  Firm tannins on the finish.  88/100

Büyülübağ
The Büyülübağ winery is located on Avsa Island in the Sea of Marmaris.  The winery is surrounded by its own vineyards, planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, and the local adakarasi.  Avsa Island is now a popular holiday destination, but it has a history winemaking dating back to the 1800s.  Apparently, adakarasi is grown only on the 27 km² of Avsa Island.  It was more widely used 10-20 years ago, but the vineyards were all but abandoned.

The company was established in 2004, after replanting of the vineyards was begun in 2002.  The winery was completed in 2005 and is Turkey’s only gravity flow winery.

2006 Adakarasi, Büyülübağ, Avsa, Turkey, 12.7%
A stinky, slight green black fruit nose.  There are red fruits on a very tannic, spicy palate.  84/100

 


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Last updated: 27 April 2009