Top 100 red wines of Turkey - Page 9
Discover the top 100 best red wines of Turkey as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the red wines that are popular of Turkey and the best vintages to taste in this region.
Discovering the wine region of Turkey
Turkey, located on the Anatolian peninsula between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, produces more grapes than any other country in the world. However, only a very small proportion of these grapes are made into wine; as a predominantly Muslim nation, Turkey's per capita Alcohol consumption is very low.
The lack of wine production in Turkey is highly ironic, as wine historians believe that viticulture and winemaking originated in this Part of the world. Archaeological projects in Turkey and neighboring countries in the Levant have uncovered evidence suggesting that primitive VineBreeding was part of life here more than 6,000 years ago, which explains the abundance of wine grapes (vinifera).
The most commonly used wine grapes in Turkey are those used as table grapes, the only use they could be put to during the seven centuries of Ottoman rule. Ampelographic research has suggested that Turkey is home to between 500 and 1000 distinct varieties of vinifera grapes.
Although Turkey's wine history is one of the oldest in the world, the modern Turkish wine industry is very Young. Turkey only began producing wine again in 1925, as a symbol of the nation's modernization and westernization.
The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, established the country's oldest winery. The largest winery in modern Turkey is owned by tobacco giant Tekel (whose name translates as "monopoly"), now a subsidiary of British American Tobacco.
Turkey's transcontinental location, between the deserts of Arabia (its eastern neighbours are Syria, Iraq and Iran) and the seas of Eastern Europe (the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea), results in significant climatic variations within its borders. While the western coastal regions have a temperate Mediterranean Climate, with hot, Dry summers and milder, wetter winters, the northern regions (on the Black Sea) have significantly higher humidity in summer and colder winters.
Discover the grape variety: Carmenère
Carménère is a grape variety of Bordeaux origin. It is the result of a cross between Cabernet Franc and Gros Cabernet. In France, it occupies only about ten hectares, but it is also grown in Chile, Peru, the Andes, California, Italy and Argentina. The leaves of the carmenere are shiny and revolute. Its berries are round and medium-sized. Carménère is susceptible to grey rot, especially in wet autumn. It can also be exposed to the risk of climatic coulure, which is why it is important to grow it on poor soil and in warm areas. Carménère is associated with an average second ripening period. This variety has only one approved clone, 1059. It can be vinified with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It produces a rich, highly coloured wine, which acquires character when combined with other grape varieties.
Food and wine pairing with a red wine of Turkey
red wines from the region of Turkey go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of melt-in-the-mouth pork tenderloin casserole, oriental lamb skewers or traditional tagine (morocco).
Organoleptic analysis of red wine of Turkey
On the nose in the region of Turkey often reveals types of flavors of citrus fruit, black fruit or oak and sometimes also flavors of non oak, earth or red fruit.
