Wine from Turkey: Turkish Wine Regions, History, Varietals, and Producers.

The country of Turkey, then known as Anatolia, began producing wine six thousand years ago.  There are exhibits of this early wine industry dating back to 4,000 B.C. in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.  The ancient word for wine by this pre-Hittite civilization was actually Vino.  Today, Turkish wines fly under the radar of most people and most wine lovers.  It is showing up more often in eclectic wine stores and certainly in Turkish restaurants.

Primarily a Muslim country, the use of alcohol in Turkey is quite limited.  In fact, wine drinking was banned during the five hundred year rule of the Ottoman Empire.  What little wine was produced during this time was made by the Christian Greeks and Armenians and Jews.  At the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, most of those wine producers fled the country leaving the wine industry in a position of starting over.  Today although Turkey is a secular country the population is still mostly Muslim and the average per person consumption is less than one liter of wine per year.  

The climate is diverse in a country as large as Turkey.  The main wine growing areas have warm summers while the winters tend to be mild.  Likewise the soils are quite diverse but include areas with volcanic and sandstone soils.  There are 1,250 different grape varietals grown in Turkey making it the fourth largest country in terms of vineyard acreage and sixth in terms of grape production.  Only about 32 of these grape varietals are used for wine (22 of them being indigenous) with the rest being used for raisins.  There are five main wine producing regions, Marmara and Thrace, Aegean, Central Anatolian, Mediterranean, and the South East.  Almost 300 wineries produce almost 70 million liters of wine per year.

The most important export markets are Belgium, Cypress and Germany which account for two thirds of all exports.  

Some of the most popular red wine grapes are Bogazkere know for it tannins, Kalecik Karasi perhaps the best red known for its figs, roses and strawberry notes, Karasakiz a simple wine that adds some body, Çalkarasi which produces pleasant fruity wines, and Öküzgözü known for strong acidity and fruity floral wines.  The most well-liked white grapes include, Emir which produces dry unique wines, Narince, possibly the best white as it turns out rich wines capable of ageing and Sultaniye a low acid easy to quaff fruity wine.