March weather and vineyard pruning

In March the weather is still uncertain. This year, we had a nasty surprise in Cappadocia. Indeed, in recent weeks, the weather had warmed. The almond and apricot trees were in blossom. But last week the temperature dropped to -5 °C for several nights. Everything froze! In Cappadocia stone fruits harvest will be very poor this year.

The beginning of March was so mild that the vegetation started two weeks earlier than in 2009. The vine buds have not broken yet.

Last saturday we started to prune Zeynep vineyard; it should finish next week. The winter was not very cold in Cappadocia. The wood and buds are in perfect condition. This winter, it rained a lot; soils are well supplied with water. Now, the weather is nice and if we avoid spring frosts very feared in the region, then we can say that 2010 vintage begins well…

In Turkey, the 2008 vintage was very good for red wines. Some of you have already tasted our Cabernet-Sauvignon 2008. Know that Öküzgözü 2008 will be available very soon…

The price of wine in Turkey

In Ürgüp, our tasting cellar is a great opportunity for us. We receive you customers every day and it gives us a chance to discuss with you. You give us your opinion about the wines, which allows us to improve each year.

One of the most common subjects is the price of wine. You know there are high taxes, it's not a big news, but one should know that there is a considerable work behind a bottle. For example, we are just starting to sell our Turasan Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. We started working in this Cabernet’s vineyard in 2007 and we are in 2010. Three years of work and investment for this wine...

What I don't understand is the strategy of some restaurants that heighten by 5 or 6 the price of a bottle of wine. By doing this discourages customers, so that they prefer drink water or beer ... It's a pity, because the wine goes so well with the Turkish food... 

I would like to give you two examples of splendid hotels and restaurants practicing very reasonable prices especially for the wines. 

One is located in Uçhisar in Cappadocia : Sira Hotel, one of whose owners, Murat Yanki, is a winelover and is specialized in wine tourism. http://hotelsira.com/

The other one is located in Finike (not far from Antalya) : "Villa Hotel L’Orangeraie," whose owners are French lovers of Turkey. http://orangeraie-de-finike.com/  

They are not the only ones, but are unfortunately rare. I thank them because they highlight a part of the Turkish gastronomy, the wine. 

The wine and the seasons

The wine is not considered as a classic food and fortunately, because it is so different!

When you drink a soda, a beer or eat yogurt, they always have the same taste. Whether in January, the spring or September.

For wine, it's totally different. It lives and evolves with time, seasons, weather ...

Now with the spring coming, the weather warms, vegetation slowly wakes up and wines are opening. They are more aromatic and taste better and better.

We are just beginning to sell our Turasan Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Let's talk about it :

The color is intensely black. It presents a first nose of truffle, dark chocolate and juniper berry. Then it expresses hints of pepper and fruit such as blackberries, wild strawberries and discreet touches of vanilla and toast.

The attack in mouth is powerful with a nice body. We find flavors of black fruit and spices on the palate.

It is a red wine that goes very well with all red meats and meat sauces. For the more curious of you, try this Cabernet-Sauvignon with a chocolate dessert...

Seneler Chardonnay, ageing in barrel and “bâtonnage”

Today, this is “bâtonnage” day for Chardonnay. But what does this mean??

The “bâtonnage” action aims to resuspend the lees (dead yeast essentially) in a wine. This was traditionally done with a wooden stick. Today, we use stainless steel “dodine” more or less complex depending on the choice of the cellar master.

The “bâtonnage” promotes the autolysis of yeasts and gives more body to the wine (feeling fat in the mouth). It also promotes the development of complex flavors.

1-2 :  Chardonnay’s barrel before batonnage. The lees are deposited.

3-4-5 : Barrel of Chardonnay being stirred. Lees disturb the wine.

6 : Barrel of Chardonnay after batonnage

Turasan wines presentation to the British journalists

Today, the seven British journalists came to visit our cellar in Cappadocia and taste our wines. I give you their names, so that you can visit their blogs or websites:

• Tim Atkin : http://timatkin.com/  
• Stephen Brook : http://www.stephenbrook.com/  
• Oz Clarke : http://www.ozclarke.com/   
• David Furer
• Caroline Gilby : http://www.cix.co.uk/~cgilby/  
• Susan Hulme : http://www.wineeducators.com/susan_hulme.html  
• Charles Metcalfe : http://www.wineeducators.com/charles_metcalfe.html

We didn't have much time because they had a busy program but we made all the same a nice tasting :

• small vertical of Emir : 2007, 2008 and 2009 (still in tank)
• Seneler Chardonnay 2008
• Seneler Narince 2007 and 2008
• Turasan Rosé 2009
• Kalecik Karası 2001
• Seneler Öküzgözü 2007, 2008 and 2009 (2008 and 2009 are still in the cellar)
• and to finish, a new blend for a new red Seneler 2008 which will be released in a few months. At this time it's my favorite Turkish wine, it has everything but it still need some time in cellar...

Then, we had a quick lunch in a restaurant, where we kept on tasting wine, with our Kalecik Karası 2009 et our Misket Dömisek 2009.

Don't worry, when I say "taste", it actually means taste and not drink, of course we spit the wine, most of the time... ! 

Turkish Premium wines

On Monday, I was in Istanbul with Hasan Turasan and other representatives of fifteen Turkish wineries.

Seven famous journalists came from UK to taste Turkish wines. It is a very important event. Thanks to them we have the opporunity to let know Turkish wines abroad and show to the world the incredible progress that wineries have made in recent years.

This day was also for us, wine producers, the opportunity to taste wines produced by the other Turkish wineries. It is a very interesting and rewarding exercise. I was surprised by a lot of wines. Most of the wines are complex and rich but really overoaked! A good wine is not necessarily a wooded wine and the best wines in the world allow the expression of the grape varieties and the terroir(s). Unfortunately many Turkish wines are masked by the wood they are made up... Hopefully this trend will decrease with the time...