Adventures on the Turkish Wine Trail - November 2025

You might think that the wine is the best part of my job. You'd be wrong.

The wine is indeed an absolute delight.

But the real best part of Turkish wine?

It's the people.

They are young, vibrant, rowdy, bold, irreverent, and courageous. It's not easy to make great wine. It's even harder to make great wine in a place where the government is hostile to the industry. But this wonderful group of wine professionals soldier on, each with their own version of that uniquely Turkish cultural identity shaped by a common thread of warm hospitality.

This November I had the pleasure to visit each of our current seven Turkish winery partners. It was a great opportunity to taste new wines and new vintages, and see the vineyards and wineries where the magic happens!

my "office" in Istanbul

As always, we started in Istanbul, a city that owns my heart. Its history and culture are only matched by its beauty, which never ceases to leave me speechless. This time, Andrea Lemieux introduced me to her local wine bar, Solera, as well as a new one nearby, Bağ Pera, both in Beyoğlu. If you find yourself in Istanbul's Taksim / Beyoğlu area, you really should make the effort to go to both places. Each offers a wonderful selection of Turkish wines.

From Istanbul, we first ventured to Thrace (Trakya in Turkish), where several of our wineries are located.

Zeynep Arca Şallıel, owner at Odrysia Vineyards, graciously hosted us for lunch and shared several of her new vintages and wines with us. Zeynep is always a joy to be with, and it's a special kind of treat to taste wines with her, experiencing first hand her passion for producing only the highest quality wines.

Our next stop took us to Arda Winery, a stone's throw from Turkey's western border where Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey come together. Arda owner and operations manager, the wonderful Yavuz Saç, first took us to see his papazkarası vineyards, which are tended by septuagenarian brothers Mustafa and Ismail Altıparmak. The dry farmed 40+ year old bush vines were a site to behold!

That evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner with Yavuz, where he shared some of Arda's new ventures (hint: sparkles are in our future!). We ended the night tasting tank samples in the winery and chatting via video call with Yavuz's sister Şeniz (Arda's winemaker and chief oenologist)!

The next morning we drove through the Thracian morning fog to meet Akın Gürbüz at his winery, roughly halfway back to Istanbul from Arda. Always charismatic and full of energy to present his wines, Akın shared several of his new creations with us.

One word: WOW! we are officially excited!

Akın then brought us to his vineyards in Gazıköy, not far from Tekirdağ, overlooking the northern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The drive alone was stunning, taking us through mountains and coastal roads, which - like all of Turkey - is both full of natural beauty and thousands of years of human history.

If you are wondering where the award winning Hieron Oros starts its journey from ancient soils to championship tastings, its here:

Before heading back to Istanbul, we enjoyed a lovely dinner on the seaside with Akın and his team.

Then, on to Izmir and the Aegean Region! This part of Turkey is special to me because it's where my family originally came from. And, most importantly, the wine here is amazing!

After landing in Izmir we drove a good three hours to Denizli, the home of many of Turkey's çal karası and sultaniye old vine vineyards.

Jose Hernandez, one half of the husband-wife winemaking power couple behind the amazing Heraki Winery, took us to see the boğazkere, çal karası and sultaniye vineyards that ultimately end up in his Akuarela and Novakula wines. Let me say, a book can teach you about the importance of soil, elevation, aspect and all the other elements that go into viticulture. But there's nothing like the visceral experience of breathing vineyard air while laying your eyes on the vines and running your fingers through the soil.

Jose is a staunch believer in the idea that wine is made in the vineyard. He is meticulous about every aspect of the vineyards he chooses, working very closely with the local farmers who have been tending this land for generations. The old vines of this region were once thought of as only good for table grapes. But due to the hard work, passion and technical know-how of folks like Jose and his wife, Fulya, there is a true wine renaissance happening here!

And not far from Heraki's vineyards is Kuzubağ Winery, a world class facility, truly second to none. Seriously, if you were blindfolded and transported to Kuzubağ Winery, you would probably guess you were in one of the famous wineries of Napa Valley.

As is so common in Turkey's wine industry, Kuzubağ Winery is led by a woman, Aslı Kuzu. This was my first time meeting Aslı in person. Young, dynamic, energetic, and knowledgeable, Aslı's leadership is clearly one of the key ingredients that explains why everyone in Texas loves literally every wine this winery has to offer. The future is indeed bright!

Driving through the countryside of Denizli into Manisa, you can't help but see the wine potential of the region, which sits at roughly the same latitude as Napa and Sonoma.

Before leaving the region, we were graciously invited to a tasting and dinner at Kastro Tireli (a winery new to me!), with Jose and Fulya, and a new friend, Işık Gülçubuk, winemaker at Kastro Tireli and Pasaeli. What a treat! As the least knowledgeable wine person in the room, I learned, I laughed and I filled my belly, what a night!

Heading back toward the Aegean coast, we then made our way to Akberg Winery, located minutes from the popular ancient site of Ephesus. Owner Güney Köse, another young dynamic leader in the Turkish wine industry, had just returned from a trip to Europe where he was accepting the IWSC 2025 award for Best Red Wine Producer!

Güney is smart - he understands money, market trends, and industry dynamics. And so this recent IWSC recognition is one of many affirmations of Güney's Akberg project, which he started in 2017 when he acquired the company. At that time, Akberg was an established company that produced only sweet fruit wine. But with infrastructure that could be repurposed to produce fine wine and an exısting steady business for fruit wine that could help finance the new fine wine division, Güney was able to bring his dream to fruition in short order.

The fine wine division of Akberg focuses on local varietals grown in their ancestral land. So the vineyards we visited were Osmanca, the principle white variety of Selçuk, where the Akberg winery is located. With bright vision and gritty expertise, Güney and his team were a delight. They get it done, and they get it done right!

After the whirlwind tour with our partners in the Izmir area, I set course for our one final partner, Antioche Winery, located in Hatay.

The one Turkish word you will learn quickly if you visit Hatay is deprem, which means earthquake.

Almost three years ago a terrible earthquake devastated this region. Antakya, an inland city in Hatay that used to be about the size of Denver, basically no longer exists today. It's hard to overstate the profoundly terrible impact of this natural disaster.

But it's also hard to overstate the profound strength of the people of Hatay.

While you hear the Turkish word deprem, you will feel the English words strength, resilience, fortitude and determination.

The Abdo Family started Antioche Winery almost 20 years ago. A pillar in the Hatay community, they survived the earthquake and have continued to provide much needed jobs and economic security.

Madlen Abdo, another young, sharp and dynamic Turkish woman, leads the operation today. She and her team of home grown emerging stars in the Turkish wine industry were generous, eager, and excited to show me what they have worked so hard to build.

All their vineyards are situated around their winery, which sits in the foothills of the coastal mountains lining the nearby Mediterranean Sea. This unique location provides a constant breeze, making the typically very hot terroir perfect for vineyard cultivation. In particular, the Barburi grape variety, vinified for personal use for generations by the local community, and only recently brought to the commercial market by the Abdo Family, performs beautifully here.

To end our day in Hatay, Madlen and her team graciously hosted me at the Abdo Family's Konak Restaurant, which once stood in Antakya, but is now rebuilt in the coastal town of Arsuz where many former residents of Antakya have relocated. Hatay cuisine is something to behold - a truly stunning expression of spices and flavors as diverse as the people who make it!

What a great way to end this Adventure on the Turkish Wine Trail!

If you'd like to experience a small taste of what you've just read, stop by our tasting room in Houston at 1909 Dunlavy Street, where we'd be happy to pour our wine and share more stories with you, cheers!