Why You Might Not Know Turkish Wine
- Andrea Lemieux
- Jul 31
- 4 min read
Many of you will read this and think, “Hang on, of course we know about Turkish wine, that’s why we’re on the website!” You are the happy minority. Others happening upon our site for the first time are likely to have never before encountered Turkish wine.
The country’s varied soils, everything from granite, clay, limestone, and volcanic tuff, and varied microclimates create a perfect environment for terroir-driven wines. Indeed, the region has a long history of doing just that with viticulture and winemaking stretching back beyond the Greeks and Romans to the Hittite, Assyrian, and other ancient empires. So, why is it that Turkish wine remains relatively unknown?
Low Production and Economic Concerns
It certainly isn’t because the country lacks grapes! Turkey is one of the world’s largest grape producer and there are over 1,400 varieties grown here. However, only about 3% of those grapes are used for alcohol production. The vast majority are sold as table grapes or used to make molasses or raisins, the latter being one of the county’s larger export products.
Despite the preponderance of raw materials, that’s about all we have. Winemaking equipment is largely not made in Turkey. While stainless steel fermentation tanks can be sourced here, wineries buy most of their equipment from barrels to bottles; filtration, corking, bottling, labeling machines; and any specialist equipment like fermentation eggs, from abroad.
The buying power of the Turkish Lira has fallen dramatically in the last ten years from 3 TRY to the dollar to 47 TRY*. Coupled with associated transportation fees and high import taxes, just outfitting a winery with the necessaries makes entrance into winemaking prohibitive.
Licensing fees, collateral requirements, insurance, and taxes all pile on top of equipment costs. There’s an old joke that goes something like, “How do you end up with a million dollars in the wine industry? Start with two million.” That was never truer than in Turkey.
Turkish Wine Doesn’t Really Get Exported
Turkey produces some 17,118,349 gallons**—or 7,200,000 cases—of wine annually. That puts the country 28th in global wine production. Its export ranking, though, is 40th globally.
This small amount is consumed almost entirely domestically by locals and, to a lesser degree, tourists. Despite the millennia of wine imbibing cultures that contributed to the development of wine, modern Turkey is far more a beer and rakı-drinking society. Those who do drink alcohol, that is.
The general lack of exports not only explains why more people haven’t heard of Turkish wine; it also creates something of a catch-22.
Foreigners don’t associate wine with Turkey and generally assume that it doesn’t exist.
Consumers don’t look for it at home where they normally buy wine and don’t ask at the shops if it’s ever available.
Shop owners don’t ask their distributors for Turkish wine.
Distributors don’t try to source Turkish wine from importers.
Importers don't attempt to source Turkish wine because there's no demand from distributors.
There’s another piece to this vicious circle: getting wine media interested. Stories about Turkish wine in the international media have appeared more frequently than in years past, however, that doesn’t mean they’re common. Getting big name publications to run stories on Turkish wine is almost as difficult as getting an importer to buy it. For editors, there’s little to gain by paying someone for a story about wine their readership can’t access.
The Restaurant Wine List Conundrum
Even visitors to Turkey might be forgiven for not discovering the wine, or going home with a bad impression of it.
We have great wine bars, especially in Istanbul, but they’re few in number and generally, unless you know about them, you don’t come across them by chance. Coupled with that, many tourists don’t make it beyond kebab shops to restaurants that have a wine list. So, even in Turkey, encountering Turkish wine isn’t a given.
Then there’s the restaurant wine list conundrum. Your standard quality venues in Turkey don’t often (if ever) offer especially good examples of Turkish wine. It’s also not uncommon for a single winery to buy out an entire restaurant’s wine list; something that happens even at good venues. That results in few choices, often few native grapes, and again, generally poor quality as the restaurant’s by-the-glass offering will likely be that winery’s cheapest line.
Creating Buzz
The problem isn’t getting people interested in drinking Turkish wine. Drinkers are increasingly bored with the same old offerings that have held shelf space for decades. Wine enthusiasts especially are proving their interest in new-to-them grape varieties and less-known countries. Bottles from countries like Greece, Georgia, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Brazil are more regularly popping up in bottle shops around the US.
Until people know about Turkish wine though, no amount of enthusiasm for the new and different will help. Wine tourism targeted at visitors to Turkey is expanding. Even if international wine media is generally silent, social media is full of posts talking about Turkey’s grapes and regions. These are good steps in the right direction.
For the first time, we’re ending our monthly feature with a little homework, especially for anyone visiting our website from outside of Texas. Ask for Turkish wine at your local wine bar/restaurant/shop. Be persistent, even a little annoying about it! Get those retailers talking to their distributors who will then hopefully talk to their importers.
Until the day Turkish wine becomes more accessible in the US, we’re waiting for you in Houston and encourage you to not only go to Turkey, but to make exploring the wines part of your trip.
*Based on July 2016 and 2026 rates from Oanda.com
**Based on the 2024 date from OIV.com
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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