Feature: Exploring Turkish Wine Routes - Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası
We have together explored so far three of Turkey’s wine routes, from the Trakya Bağ Rotası in the European side of Turkey known as Thrace, to the Urla Bağ Yolu and Çal Bağ Yolu, both excellent snapshots of Turkey’s Aegean region. We now venture to another slice of the Aegean with a look at the Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası.
Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası
The Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası or the Lidya Historical Wine Route, is one of Turkey's newest wine routes. Spearheaded by Ercan Boztepe of Sobran Bağları, the route brings together a seemingly disparate group of wineries from the inner Aegean.
While they produce distinctly different wines from moderate to mega scale and are scattered across Kemalpaşa, Manisa, Akhisar, Alaşehir, Uşak, and Aydın, what they share is more profound than what makes them different. They share a deep and rich history, growing grapes in the "Land of the Golden Vines" where Lidyans once made wine, and a firm belief in the modern potential of their growing region.
Who Were the Lydians?
The Kingdom of Lydia ruled a wide swath of Anatolia from 1200–546 BC. They were a fascinating society rich in culture and custom. One of those customs was the use of gold and silver coinage. In fact, according to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver coins.
You may have heard of fabled King Croesus, as in "as rich as Croesus"? Prior to his surprisingly short rule (560-546 BC), these coins were actually made of an alloy that was a gold-silver mix. He introduced the Croeseid, the first true gold coins. That's probably what led to the whole "rich as Croesus" epitaph.
Other than some interesting trivia, this has what to do with the wine route? The Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası didn't choose "Land of the Golden Vines" as its motto just because a few rivers in the area coughed up shiny metal. It's actually a reference to the region's new gold...the grape Sultaniye.
This part of Turkey's Aegean has long produced mountains of grapes, making the country today the world's seventh1 largest grape producer. The vast majority of grapes grown in the country and specifically in the area covered by this wine route are the golden-skinned Sultaniye. Most of these grapes are transformed into raisins for export, but some make their way into wineries.
The Wineries and Wines of the Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası
Currently six wineries make up the membership of this wine route. Their wines vary widely in style—dry whites, reds, and rosés to sweet whites and reds—and in featured grapes which include both native and international grapes.
In this particular region alone more than 30 different grapes grow, which gives you an idea about the array you can find in the wineries.
Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası Members
Heraki
Kastro Tireli
Kavaklidere Pendore
Nif Bağları
Selendi
Sobran Bağları
Heraki
If you have visited our website before, you know that we love Heraki.
Heraki is, at its heart, a love story. First between its founders, then between them and Turkey.
Fulya Akıncı and José Hernández met in Bordeaux while studying oenology. Already devoted to wine, they fell in love and sustained their relationship across continents, refining their craft in Europe, South America, and China. In 2013, while working on opposite sides of the world, they chose a single place to build a life together. That place was Turkey.
For several years the two built their career in Turkey as consultants, working for a range of wineries in the Aegean and Central Anatolia. However much they enjoyed the work, soon enough they wanted to make their own wine, to their own taste, with their own methods. Founded in 2019, Heraki unites their names (Hernandez + Akıncı = Heraki) and their belief in the power of Turkey’s native grapes. The winery is small and hands-on, filled with tanks, barrels, and plastic eggs that reflect their experimental spirit.
Kastro Tireli
It was while studying abroad that Kastro Tireli founder Yunus Mermerci developed both a love of and interest in wine. So much so that while studying in Australia, he even worked part-time during the harvest in Hunter Valley. After getting his hands dirty in those vineyards there was no stopping him. Back in Turkey and with the help of Italian winemaker and consultant Andrea Paoletti, Yunus planted Kastro Tireli’s vineyards with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Öküzgözü, Boğazkere, Viognier, Narince, and Bornova Misketi.
The winery's vineyards sit at 200-280 meters above sea level on largely uniform schist soils. While the elevation is not huge it is significant enough to allow the vines the advantages of sea breezes coming off the coast 100 kilometers away. Here, head winemaker Işık Gülçubuk goes one step beyond organic in the vineyard. Under her direction, Kastro Tireli uses no herbicides or pesticides, not even those allowed by organic viticulture standards. Most-if not all-the red wines she ferments on native yeasts and has helped Kastro Tireli become one of the leading Turkish wineries producing low-intervention wines under its Hermos label.
Kavaklidere Pendore
Kavaklidere is one of Turkey's oldest modern wine companies, rooted in the early days of the Republic. Born in the Kavaklıdere district of Ankara, it has grown into one of the country's largest producers with multiple wineries around the country.
To build one of those facilities, Kavaklidere turned to the promise of the Aegean in the 2000s to establish the Pendore vineyards in Alaşehir Kemaliye. Fed by cool winds from the Bozdağ Mountains, Pendore became a living mosaic of vines, where 15 varieties flourish across a vast landscape.
Nif Bağları
Nif Bağları carries a name that echoes an older world, drawn from Nymphaion, a place once imagined as home to water and forest nymphs. While its modern story seems to begin in the late 1990s, its roots stretch back much further, to the 1890s when the Özcan family arrived in İzmir’s Nif region from Bosnia. Over four generations, they quietly tended vines and refined their craft, until a new vision took shape. In 1998, father and son Hamit and Erhan Özcan set out to build a dedicated vineyard, later joined by daughter Gaye Özcan, whose knowledge of agriculture and oenology helped shape the winery into what it is today.
Nif is responsible for giving us a variety of interesting wines, from some of the first Italian grapes in Turkey, introducing Solaris, and setting the standard for dry Bornova Misketi.
Selendi
Akın Öngör’s journey into winemaking began humbly in the late 1990s on a small tobacco field in Akhisar. What started as a curiosity soon grew into Selendi, a vineyard that expanded from just 30 acres to 250. He released his first vintage in 2004, and became one of Turkey's pioneers in organic farming, setting a standard for careful, sustainable cultivation.
Öngör spent years studying the land, analyzing climate and soil before planting his main vineyards on the Sarnıç Plateau. True to the spirit of the land, Selendi’s wines carry the names of their regions, such as Selendi – Sarnıç and Selendi – Moralı.
Sobran Bağları
Gülşen and Ercan Boztepe, pioneers of the Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası, planted the seeds of Sobran Bağları in 2005, in the heart of Alaşehir’s famed “Green Sea,” where twisting waters of the Alaşehir River meet the surrounding mountains. What began as a 200-acre table grape venture in Sobran Village soon blossomed into a vineyard paradise, nurturing 50 grape varieties across this fertile Lydian plain.
The vision to make wine came from Gülşen, and by 2012, hobby turned ambition had transformed part of their vineyards into 60 acres of wine grapes. With passion and dedication, Ercan immersed himself fully in the process while Gülşen gained academic expertise. Their first wines were shaped under the guidance of German oenologist Hermann-Josef Kreuzberg, and Sobran quickly became a testament to how passion and careful stewardship could turn a table grape producer into a vintner of quality wines.
Wines to Try
While visiting the wine route may not be that easy, it doesn't mean that you can't experience the wine from Lidya Antik Bağ Rotası. We’re proud to offer an extensive collection of wine from Heraki and will very soon be importing some of Kastro Tireli’s wines.
Moreover, we’ve recently begun a partnership with Selendi. The winery has been bringing wines to the US through New York since before we started our business, and we are now happy to offer a selection of Selendi wines here at Fine Turkish Wine.
And soon we will be proud to welcome Kastro Tireli into the Fine Turkish Wine family, with a lovely selection of their wines coming to our portfolio!
Why Is Wine Tourism So Underexplored in Turkey?
Wine tourism is still largely unexplored in Turkey. Advertising alcohol is illegal, which means advertising wine tastings in tourism brochures is also a no-no. Wineries navigate this by advertising "vineyard tours" but campaigns are still small and cautious.
For capturing international tourism, Turkish wine tourism faces other challenges. There are only a few international or domestic tourism agencies like Vines & Pearls that offer wine tours, but tourists first have to know that Turkey even has a wine industry to look for those. The high cost of alcohol and general inflation which has made everything in Turkey, especially fuel and services like rental cars and tour guide services, skyrocket over recent years, makes guided wine tours feel prohibitively expensive for many.
While it is entirely possible to visit wineries without a guide, some people hesitate to drive in foreign countries, worry about tasting then driving, or have communication concerns as not every winery in Turkey has English-speaking staff available.
Planning a Visit to a Winery in Turkey
We hope to organize wine tours of Turkey in the near future! But until then, here are a few tips: Especially because wine tourism is a new concept in Turkey, there are a few things you should check before rocking up at a winery here.
Where is the winery?
This seems like a really basic question but the reality is often not so simple. Google Maps is pretty accurate in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and other big cities. But that’s not where the wineries are. Wineries are often located on roads Google doesn’t think exist or in places you would least expect-like an industrial complex (this is true, several are). Make sure you have a good idea of where you’re going before you set out.
Do you need a reservation?
Almost always, yes. Not all wineries in Turkey, not even those part of the wine routes, regularly accept visitors. And the places that do are very popular so you might not get a table if you don’t book in advance.
Can visitors see the production rooms?
This depends a lot on the specific winery and how busy it is when you go. Not everyone has staff dedicated for tours of the production rooms and vineyards so it’s a good idea to ask this when you make a reservation.
Does the vineyard offer wine tasting?
Again this might seem like a silly question. Once again, the reality in Turkey does not always reflect the obvious. Many wineries do offer set tastings but not all. Again, ask when you make a reservation.
Are wine tastings free?
No, there is usually a fee.
Do you have the option to buy wine?
Yes, absolutely. Usually at a lower price than retail.
Does someone at the winery speak English?
Like the answer to most of these questions the answer is: it depends. Probably calling to try to make a reservation will be your first clue! When in doubt at the winery, smile. Turkish hospitality is famous and wine people will be happy for your visit whether or not you can communicate verbally!
Do wineries not part of one of these wine routes accept visitors?
Yes. The majority of wineries in Turkey accept visitors regardless of whether they’re part of an official wine route or not so it’s also worth looking into visiting wineries in other parts of the country like Cappadocia, Bodrum, Mardin, Elazığ, Bozcaada, and Ankara
As always, you can enjoy and purchase this wine and many more at the Fine Turkish Wine Bottle Shop + Tasting Room, located in Houston's Montrose District at 1909 Dunlavy Street.
Andrea Lemieux is an international wine expert with particular expertise in Turkish Wine. She is the author of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine, the world's only comprehensive English language book on Turkish wine. She is also the author of The Quick and Dirty Guide to Greek Wine and the founder of The Quirky Cork website which is dedicated largely to Turkish wine.
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