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Good wine has been
produced in Turkey for millennia,
and still is.
Several of Anatolia's climatic
regions, inluding the Marmara and Aegean,
the East around
Elazig, and the Southeast near Diyarbakir,
some with volcanic soil (such as Cappadocia),
are suitable for producing wine grapes.
In the past, the grapes have mostly
been local traditional varieties such
as Öküzgözü (Ox-eye)
from Elazig and Bogazkere from
Diyarbakir,
but Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon
blanc, Merlot, Carignan,
and Alicante are now
being used for premium wines.
The standards were set for Turkish
wines in the mid-1900s by the Kavaklidere and
Doluca (DOHL-oo-jah)
vineyards. Simple table wines such
as Kavak and
the better Çankaya (white), Dikmen and
the better Yakut (red), Lâl (rosé/blush)
and Villa Doluca (white and
red) are drinkable and not the most
expensive.
Tatlisert, by the
way, is a fortified red similar to
port.
In the 1990s, after changes in the
laws governing alcoholic beverages,
small local vintners began to make
varietal
wines
of
good quality. The best wines are often
from the well-run vineyards of
wealthy industrial and commercial families.
Look for labels bearing the marks Corvus,
Kayra, Sarafin and Sevilen.
In Cappadocia,
the Kocabağ (KOH-jah-bah)
and Turasan (TOO-rah-ahn)
labels are two to try. I prefer the
Kocabağ, especially their Öküzgözü
and Cabernet Sauvignon reds.
Because discerning (and wealthy)
Turkish wine-drinkers are only a small
market, the better vintages are surprisingly
expensive. Though table wines such
as the red Kavaklidere Dikmen
and basic Doluca labels
sell for TL10
to TL14
in shops, and mid-priced Villa
Doluca and Kavaklidere's Çankaya white
for TL15
to TL17,
Kavaklidere's red Yakut
and other upscale wines such
as Kavaklidere's Egeo wines,
and Angora,
Ancyra and Vinart appellation/vintage
years can
cost TL25
or more in a shop, and 2-1/2 to 3 times
as much in a restaurant.
Prices for imported wines can be even
higher. The inexpensive wine you're
used to drinking at home may be a premium-priced
wine in Turkey. Better to choose local
vintages.
High taxes also
play their part in the high price of
wine. The tax just about doubles the
cost of a bottle of inexpensive table
wine. There is also a large illegal,
untaxed and uncontrolled wine industry that competes unfairly with the legitimate
vintners.
In Istanbul's
best restaurants, the cost of a lavish
dinner is often less than the cost
of the wine that accompanies it.
Although the governing center-right
AKP party denies that it acts against
those who drink alcoholic beverages,
the cost of enjoying a glass of wine—or
indeed any alcoholic beverage—has
risen during their tenure in office.
If you enjoy wine with dinner, don't
be dismayed. You can have it, it will
be pretty good, and it won't ruin your
budget, but it won't be cheap, either.
The peoples of the Byzantine
Empire enjoyed their wines and
developed careful cultivation methods
for their grapes.
Under the Ottoman
Empire, the sultan's Muslim subjects
largely abstained, but his Christian
and Jewish subjects
continued to make and drink wine.
With the fall of the empire (1923)
and founding of the European-style Turkish
Republic, many citizens of Greek
heritage moved to Greece, but in the
secular republic wine-making was encouraged.
During the holy month of Ramazan,
alcoholic beverages are less in evidence,
following traditional customs.
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