Wine production in Eastern Anatolia dates back to 4,000 B.C. Evidence of the skills as early wine producers can be found in Ankara’s Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, where pictures and the remains of vine growing and wine production show the areas rich heritage of viticulture. Kavaklidere Winery is one of the country’s oldest and best known, which produces fine Turkish wine from the region’s indigenous Anatolian grapes. Its original location in the heart of the city of Ankara is now home to the Sheraton Hotel.
The Winery
Kavaklidere Winery located near to the capital, Ankara, produces one of the country’s biggest and best selling brands of wine. It was established in 1929, when Ankara was no more than a small town. The Kavaklidere valley, which translates as the 'valley of poplars' has long since been rich in vines and the wineries founder, a Mr Cenap, took advantage of this and set up a winery to fund his Music Foundation, which aimed to develop and support classical music in Turkey. As Ankara began to sprawl and was designated the capital city of the new capital Turkish Republic, Cenap relocated his business to a green site outside of the city, which is now close to Ankara's Esenboga International Airport. Today, the winery stands on 35 hectares of land with picturesque views to the Anatolian Plateau; the area is planted with a variety of grapes including the black Kalecik Karasi and Oküzgözü. In 1987, the winery was taken over by a French wine connoisseur who brought new skills and influences to the mix including new, state of the art, French designed wine-making equipment and a sophisticated air control system to keep even, stable temperatures. The Winery processes 20 tonnes of grapes an hour during the grape harvest and can keep up to 40,000 hectolitres of wine in sophisticated stainless steel vats. It can also produce 8,000 bottles an hour.
The Grape
The Oküzgözü grape is part of the native Turkish red grape prolific around the mountainous Elazig region in eastern Turkey. The area is perfect for growing this type of grape thanks to its proximity to the Euphrates River, which helps to moderate the usually severe climate typical of this area. Öküzgözü, which literally translates as ‘ox eye’ are perfectly round, dark red grapes, which produce excellent dry red wine with a propensity to age well up to 10 years.
The Wine: Yakut Oküzgözü d'Elazig 2002
An excellent alternative to Merlot, this wine derives its name from the winery's label name for this particular wine style; Yakut is a ‘dry red wine of a certain standard quality’, the Öküzgözü grape used to make it and the Elazig region where the grape is grown. It is a clear ruby red colour with has a crisp, fresh taste akin to unsweetened black-cherry juice although there are undertones of raspberry and plum. It is rich with a well-balanced body with light tannins. It is best served at 16-18 degrees C and is the ideal accompaniment to red meat, casseroles, cheese and poultry. Its refreshing feel reminds one of good Beaujolais. It went nicely with simple fare, and certainly left no room for complaints at the price. If you have never savoured Turkish wine Yakut Oküzgözü d'Elazig 2002 is a great one to start with and its low price is not reflective of its high quality.
