Turkish Wine Selection - TEXSOM Trio
- Andrea Lemieux
- Aug 31
- 3 min read
Turkish wines and native grapes made a big splash at the TEXSOM wine conference in Dallas this year with some 10 wineries (including all seven of our winery partners!) being represented there. Of course, we at Fine Turkish Wine are big fans of Turkish wines and native grapes (bet you’d never have guessed that!).
Not only did we provide five of the eleven Turkish wines poured at one of TEXSOM’s educational seminars: the Wines and Wine Culture of Turkey, we poured six additional wines at our own exhibition table. It was a delight to chat with so many wine professionals at our table, most of whom had never tasted Turkish wine!
But, if you couldn’t make it to Dallas to see us there, you can still get your hands on some of the most popular wines from the day with our September trio!
Narince was one of the first grapes the Saç family planted around their winery, where the now 20-year-old vines grow certified by Turkey’s Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) farming method. The wine showcases winemaker Şeniz Saç’s blending skills as she combines both stainless steel tank-fermented Narince along with barrel-fermented wine before finishing the blend in old, neutral barrels.
Tasting notes: Think of Chardonnay but sexier and more refined. Fragrant citrus, gardenia, honeysuckle and herbs on the nose with flavors of tropical pineapple, yellow apple and lemon zest, all rounded by a long toasty and savory textured finish. Enjoy this well-rounded and complex wine now with light dishes and meze or age for a deeper more versatile experience.
The name Heraki chose for its main wine line, Akuarela, was never more appropriate than it was for this grape. ‘Akuarela’ meaning ‘watercolor’ in Spanish, is a nod to both the clarity and paleness of their wines, but also a play on watercolor art. Many people think of watercolor as nothing more than those simple, usually cheap art kits you buy for kids. But watercolors can produce serious art.
Heraki’s Akuarela Çal Karası is like that. So pale you could read a newspaper through it, but with an incredible depth of flavor from old, dry-farmed bush vines. Made with a combination of whole bunches and destemmed fruit and aged in plastic egg tanks, this is a wine far more serious than its appearance lets on.
Tasting Notes: This clear ruby wine bursts with raspberry, sour cherry, and cranberry, decorated by fresh thyme and pepper, with earthy hints of forest and tobacco. A generous and silky medium-bodied wine with enough acidity to balance the rich alcohol.
Papazkarası (which you’ll also see spelled Papaskarası) is, so far, the only native grape to come out of northern Turkish Thrace. This grape thrives in the more maritime climate around Edrine with cooling breezes from the nearby Black Sea. Many of the Papazkarası dotted around northern Thrace are old bush vines, dry farmed in the region's well-draining sandy loam soil.
Akın Gürbüz sources the grapes for his Papaskarası from a single vineyard in Edirne. After extended maceration and fermentation, he matures the wine in a combination of American and French oak barrels for 14 months.
Tasting notes: A wine driven by ripe cherry and black currant with notes of olive and tree bark, rounded out by smooth, smoky vanilla and finished with a long, rich earthiness. Can nicely complement meaty or mushroom dishes and balsamic sauces.
As always, you can enjoy and purchase each of these wines 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, and she is the founder of The Quirky Cork blog which is dedicated largely to Turkish wine.
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