While visiting Vinexpo in Bordeaux in June I stopped at the Turkish stand and tasted some of their wines. Quite a few of them were good. I especially liked a wine called Sade Öküzgözü 2011 from the producer Kavaklidere Winery. The hard-to-pronounce Öküzgözü is the name of the Anatolian grape variety that the wine is made of.
Kavaklidere was the first private wine producer in Turkey, founded in Ankara in 1929. Now it is one of Turkey’s leading wineries with its more than 600 hectares of vines. The vineyards are located in different places, among them the spectacular Cappadocia in central Turkey. 20% of the production is exported.
Sade Öküzgözü is aromatic and flavourful, which is typical of this grape from eastern Anatolia. The body is relatively light and the style is quite elegant. There is a lot of fruit, cherries and fresh red berries. More: www.kavaklidere.com
Here are some more pictures from the winery and from the Cappadocia region. (Last year the European Wine Bloggers Conference, #EWBC – subsequently renamed Digital Wine Communications Conference, #DWCC – took place in Izmir in Turkey and Per had the occasion to go visit Cappadocia.)
