Wine: 'Noah planted vines in Eastern Turkey'(1)
Why - with grapes sustainable almost anywhere between 30 and 50 degrees from the equator - do relatively few countries make wine commercially? Clearly, others have been asking themselves that because good wine now comes from the likes of Greece, India, China and today's featured country, Turkey.
Noah actually gave the country the inside track because planting vines on Mount Arafat, in Eastern Turkey, was one of his first tasks when he emerged from the ark. Today, the country is one of the world's biggest producers of table grapes but, culturally, wine was not encouraged. That changed, however, as Turkey developed its holiday trade with western Europeans. Those new visitors brought with them a strong demand for inexpensive table wines and Turkish growers met it, largely, with international grape varieties (chardonnay and, especially, syrah) rather than with local varieties.
Things changed though, as a dozen top producers began to stand out from the crowd, disenchanted with what they saw as "dumbed down" wine. Some of them had studied the subject overseas and could see how technology (temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks rather than old style concrete versions, for instance) could breathe new life into indigenous grapes.
They also rebelled against other traditional practices that impaired quality. Grapes were often trucked long-distance with only rudimentary temperature control. Similarly, the finished wine often seemed to suffer over-extraction (squeezing more juice from the grapes than is sensible) and from the excessive use of oak which distorted the natural flavours of the fruit.
The final parting of the ways came with the arrival of all-inclusive holidays. Obviously hoteliers wanted to stock wines that did not cost too much while the new breed of producers wanted to scale new heights of quality. One grower, for example, responded by halving his 1990 production levels to keep faith with his commitment to draw the best from local grape varieties and terrain. There are over 600 varieties in Turkey, although only 10 per cent of those are used in commercial wine production. Some could, of course, be variants of well known grapes but DNA evidence is sketchy at this stage and no one really knows.
Although sommeliers in top-end Turkish restaurants do sterling work as missionaries for their country's indigenous wines, retail suppliers can be an issue, especially for Scotland.
Going online is the main current option with www.tasteturkey.com probably the best UK based site, and the long standing Kavaklidere producer possibly the safest place to start. I have picked out a few of their wines that give a good flavour of what Turkish wine is all about.
For an entry point bridge with the familiar, try Kavaklidere Ancyra Syrah (£8) with its fresh but rich and juicy flavours and those familiar peppery undertones.
