Fine Turkish Wine: The Road So Far
- Andrea Lemieux
- May 1
- 7 min read
Starting a new business is never easy. The learning curve is enormous, as are the financial risks and additional life stress. All of this is compounded when the business you start is for a market so niche, few people have even heard of it! That’s exactly the position in which we find ourselves at Fine Turkish Wine.
While on the outside it looks like Fine Turkish Wine recently finished its first year, on the inside the story has been a little different! But, with wines officially available for more than a year now, we reflect on the road so far: on the challenges, what we learned, and the successes we had.
Looking Back on the "First" Year of Fine Turkish Wine
It was on a family trip to Turkey during the summer of 2022 that Rob İçsezen and his family decided to take the plunge and start the business.
With many choices for beginning such an endeavor, we decided we were not interested in just selling a few bottles of wine. Rather, we developed the much more ambitious goal of putting Turkish wine on the map for US consumers. Simply put, we want Turkey to be recognized in the US as one of the world's great wine producing regions!
Of course, this, as they say, takes time and money.
And so, while our front facing tasting room didn't open until 2024, we got started in earnest well in advance - two years to be precise, just after our return from Turkey that summer! Initial research, formally creating the business entity, acquiring the property, and hiring a liquor lawyer, took up a good chunk of the rest of 2022.
In 2023, we had our first success obtaining our Texas Winery Permit (which took quite a bit of time and effort)! Then it was on to getting to know the Turkish wine industry, making relationships, and getting the first shipment in order.
Breaking into Turkish Wine
The biggest challenge this year was getting connected to Turkish wineries. Our initial plan was to work with one winery with which we had a pre-existing personal relationship. The idea was to keep it simple with one winery at first, then bring on more after having done it once. Unfortunately, a literal disaster struck in the form of the Southeastern Turkey earthquake right when we were scheduled to make a first exploratory visit. This left us with a permit… but no wine and no real prospect of wine!
At this point, we began to reach out to people in Turkey, independent of existing relationships, and managed several Zoom calls with various people connected to the industry. And in the end, we lucked out and met the single best contact in the Turkish wine industry: Andrea Lemieux! This was a turning point, as Andrea was able to connect us with wineries from across the country, and importantly, give Rob a crash course on Turkish wine!
Eventually, we did make it to Turkey for an exploratory visit, including a wine expo in Istanbul. Both of which were helpful in getting a little exposure in Turkey and in familiarizing ourselves with Turkish wine generally.
Actually Getting the Wine
Logistics were a huge hurdle in 2023. For sure not as sexy to talk about as wine, but import can’t happen without all the backend paperwork!
We had to learn how to get labels approved, organize on-the-ground logistics, and establish a system that would not only organize all of this but also facilitate the robust monthly reporting obligations associated with the business.
Once we had all that figured out (shoutout to Airtable!), it was finally time to receive our first shipment. It arrived in Texas in March 2024 and included over 4,000 bottles spread across 27 different labels! Among those were a number of wines made from native Turkish grapes: Barburi, Kalecik Karası, Narince, Öküzgözü, and Papazkarası - a couple of which were making their debut in the US market: Barburi and Papazkarası!
Breaking into the American Wine Market
Not until 2024 did we actually have wine in the shop, and thus revenue. This was another big shift in the business.
After learning about the Turkish wine industry, making relationships, finding winery partners, learning the regulatory regime, figuring out logistics, and making physical space for a bunch of wine, we had to figure out how to market and sell the wine!
We like to tell people that Sharap Imports / Fine Turkish Wine includes at least three different businesses, each with its distinct challenges and required skill sets: 1. finding high quality winery partners and negotiating mutually beneficial deals with those partners, 2. legally moving the wine we purchase from Turkey to the US, and 3. marketing and selling that wine to US consumers. And 2024 was the year for breaking into the American wine industry.
Our permit, the robust Texas Winery Permit (G), allows us to market and sell our wines from our tasting room direct to consumer, and to distributers/retailers who are legally able to purchase wine from wineries. And we've started by focusing our efforts on high end restaurants in Houston, of which there are many!
Our biggest challenge thus far with restaurants, which continues, is getting in the door. Turkish wine is not on the tip of the proverbial tongue of American wine buyers, something we are determined to change! A change we are confident we can make, as thus far, once in front of a wine buyer and able to pour wine, our world class Turkish wines basically sell themselves. Every time we’ve poured wine for a restaurant, we’ve made a sale!
Big Wins in 2024
All the headaches from the previous two years were worth it. While we’re still slowly building our position in the local wine market, we had some very significant wins during the year!
In June, long time Houston Chronicle food journalist and two time James Beard Award winning restaurant critic Alison Cook, in what would be one of her final restaurant reviews before retiring, gave a great review of our local restaurant partner, MF Lobster & Seafood, calling out the Arda Kuşlu Sauvignon Blanc on their list as “...a softly lilting Turkish Sauvignon Blanc…” We’re ecstatic to say that we SOLD OUT of that Sauvignon Blanc, although we now have a new vintage of the wine which is just as lovely!
Additionally, we are very proud to have our wines featured on the world class wine lists at: Hamsa, Annam, and Ume, as well as the fantastic local wine shop, Vinology!
The Houston Chronicle is also getting on the Turkish wine bandwagon! In November, the paper wrote a very nice profile about Fine Turkish Wines founder Rob Icsezen!
Finally, that month we found out that the 11 wines we entered in the prestigious Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition each walked away with a medal, and three of which won Class Champion or Reserve Class Champion designation!
Looking to the Future
At the same time, as a dynamic and growing business, we know that we cannot just congratulate ourselves for a job well done and rest there. As a dynamic and growing business, we have so many plans for this year. But we also know that we will have to face new stumbling blocks like the recently imposed import tariffs.
First and foremost, we’re incredibly excited to bring you new wines and winery partners! Our second wine shipment, which we recently received, includes over 6,000 bottles! We’ve restocked some favorites from last year and added 20 new labels, with eight new native Turkish grapes for you! Among those labels is our first sparkling wine(!!!): the Odrysia Nareen, a traditional method sparkling wine made from the Narince grape. We’re also looking forward to introducing you to more Turkish grapes, including: Boğazkere, Çal Karası, Erciş Karası*, Gök*, Karasakız, Osmanca*, Patkara*, and Sultaniye.
*This is the first time these grapes are available in the US!
Last year’s wines represented two of Turkey’s eight wine regions: Thrace and the Mediterranean. This year, our three new winery partners come from the Aegean region, and bring grape varieties from across the country:
Akberg - A stone’s throw from Ephesus, some of the best-preserved Greco-Roman ruins in the Aegean, Akberg winery is pioneering unheard of and little-known grapes from around Turkey. Working with one of the country’s best winemakers, Gülçin Akçay, Akberg is introducing all of us to less well known Turkish grapes like Erciş Karası and Osmanca.
Heraki - Founded by winemaking wife-husband couple Fulya Akıncı and José Hernández, Heraki and its wines are a love letter to Turkey. The couple used to make wine around the world but decided to settle in Turkey to both make wine, and to rescue some of the country’s ancient vineyards.
Kuzubağ - A family-run winery, Kuzubağ is not only a member of the Çal Bağ Yolu (Çal Wine Route) but the leading winery striving to increase the reputation of Çal’s wines and its local grape, Çal Karası. It’s also proud to be one of Turkey’s female-driven wineries with its manager, winemakers, and label designer all women.
We’re not just sitting around admiring all our bottles of wine, of course! Look for more events held at our shop location this year (hint, hint - join the mailing list if you haven’t already for news about these!) and will expand our existing relationships with local Houston artists for wine and art events. We will also likely enter more of our wines in next year's Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition.
More than anything, though, our focus in year two will be to get out the word about Turkish wine. We're very excited about expanding, building our team, and enjoying our fıne Turkish wine with more and more Americans!
Come see for yourself, give us a visit at the Fine Turkish Wine Bottle Shop + Tasting Room, located in Houston's Montrose District at 1909 Dunlavy Street.
Until then,
Şerefe!
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, and she is the founder of The Quirky Cork blog which is dedicated largely to Turkish wine.
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