Seneler Öküzgözü 2008

Silver Medal in Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2010

What can I say about this wine?... I love it, it has got everything! Öküzgözü is certainly my favorite Turkish red grape variety. It gives incredibly fruity wines with fine tannins and a beautiful body. When, in addition, the grapes come from this small parcel of Elazig located on a beautiful “terroir”, I have all that I could wish for.

The Seneler Öküzgözü 2008 is an exclusive “cuvée”. The grapes come from a single vineyard in Elazığ. In fact, two small parcels next to each other rather different and very complementary.

It was fermented in tank and aged in French oak barrels for 12 months with a low percentage of new oak to preserve all the grape variety typicality.

Nice deep red hue, almost black.

The nose, of great aromatic richness, is expressed by typical black fruits of Öküzgözü: black cherry, plum and raisin. There are also more developed notes of cinnamon, coffee and black olive.

The palate is rich and concentrated with blackberry and cherry flavors.

A few touches of spicy and discrete oak (coffee, vanilla) bring complexity and smoothness to this wine with plenty of expression.

This wine is an excellent accompaniment for red meat, a beef tartar, a truffle cake…

Tasting with Stéphane Toutoundji

Today with Stéphane Toutoundji (our French consultant from Bordeaux), Hasan Turasan and Mustafa Seçen, we tasted all the 2009 wines that are still ageing in the winery.

This work requires great attention and concentration, because there are many samples to taste and they are analyzed by our noses and our mouths ...

We did the final blend of Seneler Chardonnay 2009. It has the concentration of 2007 but much more finesse and elegance. I love this wine of great complexity that combines typical notes of Chardonnay (quince, butter) with notes of barrel ageing (toasted, roasted, vanilla) and some flavors from our “terroir” in Cappadocia. In fact the last three vintages, each year we find a very fine aroma of fresh pine tree ... I associate it with the “terroir”, maybe the next vintages will confirm it ...

The conclusion of this tasting is positive. Stéphane was very satisfied with everything he has tasted. The 2009 has a lot of fruit flavors, soft tannins, a nice body and this difficult vintage has a nice freshness through acidity. A few months ageing more and we will prepare 2009 blends.

Some samples before tasting :

Stéphane Toutoundji, our French consultant from Bordeaux :

Visit to Güney

Late June / early July, I went to Güney, near Denizli. Since 2008, we closely work with some growers in this region and it is a real pleasure.

Located 900 meters above sea level, this plateau has a magical “terroir”! The influence of the Aegean Sea is very strong. Days are warm but with dry air. Upon nightfall, the temperature drops rapidly due to sea breezes. The soil is composed of red clay and limestone, whose depth is quite variable. The secret of this region comes mostly from the sub-soil; a thick stratum of limestone which has two major qualities. A good water retention capacity and the fact that this rock is friable, which means that the roots can penetrate it easily. Therefore vines have the water immediately available but it's hard to extract ... In summer, it does not rain in this region and the vine has to force to extract water. This put the vines in moderate water stress what is an absolutely essential condition for a good grape ripening.

Additionally, growers of the Güney region are very interested in their culture and always want to improve their work. They ask many questions and work very well. The result : beautiful vineyards, high quality grapes and exceptional wines : Seneler Cabernet-Sauvignon/Merlot/Syrah 2008 Gold Medal in Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2010!

Güney soil profile :

Soil composed of red clay and limestone

 

The top stratum of clay and limestone whose thickness varies



Sub-soil consists of a friable chalky rock where the roots can penetrate deep

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!