Turkish Wine Selection: Karasakız
November is the month we often scramble to find the perfect Thanksgiving wine. What goes with Thanksgiving food? It’s turkey so it should be white wine, right? Not necessarily. A light- or medium-bodied red with bright acidity would be perfect. A wine like the one we’ve devoted November to in our month-by-month tasting plan: Karasakız.
Oh, also, Odysseus might have drunk this and if it’s good enough for an epic hero…
Meet Karasakız
Karasakız means ‘black gum’ and your guess as to why is as good as ours. Many grapes have multiple names and may be known by a synonym in another region or country, like Çal Karası. This one goes by two monikers in Turkey: Karasakız and Kuntra, and they have two very different personalities.
Different though they may be, which we’ll talk about later, they do share a few things in common, namely history. The grape goes by the name Kuntra on the Turkish island of Bozcaada. It’s the oldest variety on the island where it’s known to have grown for at least 500 years.
It may actually be older though. In Greek mythology, the island was called Tenedos and was renowned for wine production. So superior was its wine that it warranted mention in several Homeric epics including, yes, the Odyssey.
Historically—not Odyssey level history but still—Karasakız was the primary grape used for brandy and cognac production in the region. In recent years, it’s enjoyed a revival. Paşaeli Winery first revived Karasakız as a variety for fine wine in 2009, and Suvla Winery wasn’t far behind. It would take another 10 years for the grape to find more popularity and earn a spot in wineries such as Heraki, Yaban Kolektif, Canavar, and 7Bilgeler.
In the Vineyard
We promised to tell you about the dual personalities of Karasakız and Kuntra. Some of those differences are driven by where they grow. The two main areas we see Karasakız are Bozcaada and the Bayramiç district of Çanakkale.
Bozcaada has a fantastic mix of sandy, clay, and rocky soils perfect for viticulture. Sandy soils predominate around the perimeter of the island on the lowest-lying coastal areas. While much of the coast is given over to the island’s tourist-drawing beaches, they aren’t devoid of vineyards. Further inland, soils take on more clay for a sandy-clay mix and pockets of limestone-rich rocky soil can be found around the island.
Though lower in elevation than Bayramiç, topping out at only about 300 feet, Bozcaada has a generally hotter Mediterranean climate. However, the island benefits from strong northern winds called etesians which blow (some might say batter, they’re so strong!) across the island and through the vineyards throughout the year. The etesians both moderate the otherwise hot climate and help keep pests out of the vineyards.
On the Turkish mainland, the grape grows predominately in Bayramiç, Çanakkale on the foothills of the Kaz Dağları (Mount Ida) between 800 and 1,640 feet. Bayramiç soils are sandy, especially at lower elevations and transition to more granite as you go higher. A combination of elevation and cooling night breezes that filter down from the mountain create a significant difference between day and night-time temperatures, allowing the grapes to ripen while retaining their acidity.
Grapes in both locations grow on bush, or what, in Turkey, they call “goblet” vines. Generally, vines are older with many plots from the 1970s and 80s. But as its popularity has grown, so have newly planted vineyards. They’re dry-farmed, i.e. no irrigation, and hand worked with ploughs and horses and hand harvested. Karasakız is a later-ripening variety, typically harvested in September.
Location is one reason Karasakız and Kuntra differ so much. Another reason is because they’re different clones. Not made in the lab like Dolly the sheep kind of clones. Rather, grapes spontaneously mutate and develop subtle differences in the vineyard that help them adapt to local conditions. After years of these adaptations, the grape is forever changed, but it’s still the same grape with identical DNA.
Karasakız has a number of clones floating around. While all the grapes are large, round, and thin-skinned with low anthocyanin levels, some grapes give ethereally pale, medium-bodied wines, while others darker, fuller wines. Some clones have berries that grow in compact bunches, but these darker wines come from bunches that are looser with smaller grapes.
The clone leading to paler wines is more prevalent in Bayramiç. It’s from these vineyards the company making brandy sourced its grapes. And so farmers here were encouraged to plant specific clones that were lower in body and alcohol potential but higher in acidity.
In the Winery
Regardless of clone, Karasakız grapes generally produce fruity and spicy medium-bodied wines with low tannins and medium to high acidity. Black pepper is often the dominant flavor along with red fruits like cherry and strawberry, dried fruits, sweet spices, candy and thyme.
Karasakız wines are becoming increasingly easy to find in a variety of styles including: rosé, unoaked red wines, oak-aged and reserve red wines, reds aged in clay or other alternative vessels, and traditional method blanc de noir sparkling wines. This versatility is also reflected in the range of foods with which it can pair…like turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin.
Wines to Try
We can currently offer one Karasakız wine, and it’s a good one: Heraki Akuarela Karasakız.
A pale, nearly transparent ruby color hides an intensely aromatic wine. Pronounced black pepper spice aromas embrace refreshingly juicy raspberries, red currants, and young cherries laid over a subtle layer of dried fruit and earthy base notes. The soft hints of damp soil ground the wine, adding interest without overwhelming. Smooth yet firm acidity gives vibrancy while tannins are enough to give structure without roughness, resulting in a wine with a gorgeous silky texture that is approachable, full of character and flexible at any table setting.
Heraki sources its Karasakız from the grape’s homeland of Bayramiç from a single vineyard of 35+ year-old goblet vines dry-farmed in Çanakkale’s Mediterranean climate and sandy loam soils at 820 ft above sea level.
Heraki's winemaking couple, Fulya and José, macerate the wine in whole bunches for 16 days then ferment in stainless steel tanks before transferring the wine to the large, plastic eggs they introduced to Turkish winemaking. The wine stays in these eggs for six months, resting on the lees and benefiting from the natural convection movement that occurs in the egg shape tank, before being bottled with limited filtration and no fining.
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.
Comments