Öküzgözü and Chardonnay

This week I went to Elazig to visit the vineyards of Öküzgözü we are working with. I spoke with the vinegrowers and I could give them some advices. In this region, the yields will be naturally low this year. The wines will be better!

The weather, like everywhere in the country, remains quite capricious. The spring has alternated between wet and nice (sunny) weather period. It would be good that summer really starts now. Excessive water is never good; it promotes diseases and makes too fat berries. We are only in late June, the harvest is not upcoming yet. So there is no reason to worry.

In Ürgüp, our Chardonnay grows with an incredible speed. There is no disease; the clusters are small, dense and well distributed throughout the plant. Shoot growth has slowed and should stop within three weeks that’s to say at the beginning of veraison (ripening). Then we simply need to wait for the harvest which is likely to be early this year ...

Growing bud :

Bud growth slowing :

Shoot (=branch) growth stopped :

"Relevage" of the Cabernet Sauvignon

Last week, the Cabernet Sauvignon from our vineyards located in Ürgüp were blooming. And last week we also had big storms... The bloom hasn’t taken place in optimum conditions and there is a lot of “coulure” : because of rain and cool temperatures, many small berries (as big as a pellet) fall down. It is still too early to do an accurate forecast, but overall it seems that yield losses will be quite small and quite beneficial.

Indeed, the potential yields were too high. This rain has regulated them naturally.

This week in the vineyard, our team is making a job that we call “relevage” in French. The branches grow in different directions, particularly in the rank, preventing the tractor to go through it.

before the "relevage"

The “relevage” is done by tying the branches between wires and thus a wall of vegetation is formed, whose thickness is controlled.

This allows to create a microclimate that’s favorable to photosynthesis, maturation of the grape and the good development of the vine.

after "relevage"

Bottling

Lately, I've spoken mostly of the vineyards. Let’s return to the cellar, the bottling chain precisely.  

The spring and early summer periods are favorable to bottling. This is the last technical step before selling the wine.  A bottling can not be improvised at the last minute, the wine has to be prepared. This job can sometimes take three months.

At this stage, the wine is "fragile" and the slightest error can have major consequences on the quality of the final product. A filter poorly prepared, a tank not correctly cleaned, a machine poorly resolved and it is a disaster! Our team ensures that everything goes well throughout the process.

The bottles are first cleaned and dried :

before being filled (Turasan Rose 2009 on picture) : 

corked : 

labelled, and then packaged in boxes of 12 bottles : 

During the corking, corks are compressed and must take their initial shape in the bottle to ensure a perfect seal. Therefore, we maintain bottles vertical during 24-48 hours. Then they are layed down and stored a few weeks or months depending on the wine.

The wine is aged in the bottle in our cellars. 

Satisfaction

A few days ago I had dinner with friends. One of them told me that he never drinks wine or very rarely white wine. 

As an aperitif we drank Turasan Rose 2009. At dinner we had red wine, Seneler Öküzgözü 2007.

The friend drunk both of them. Was it courtesy or did he really appreciate?

Well, yesterday, I learned that now, in restaurant, he orders the Turasan Rose instead of raki. It gives me a great satisfaction and gratitude for all the work done by the Turasan team.  

Thank you!