Jul 14 An Introduction to Turkish Wines

An Introduction to Turkish Wines and Kutman

This article is kindly provided by Kutman Wines

At first glance it may seem surprising that Turkey maintains distinctive high quality wines, but today Turkish wines rank close to the top in quality and continue to climb higher.

The KUTMAN family runs the viticulture and winery business in a 30-hectare area in Mürefte (historically known as Myrafiton), a town located around the southwestern coasts of the Marmara Sea. As one of the oldest and most indigenous families in the region, the family does viticulture and winery with its experienced members and employees, and endeavors to process the high quality in the vineyard into the wine of same standards.

The production is still based on traditional methods. The grapes are processed after destemming. The wines to be aged are bottled after aging in oak barrels. White wines undergo low temperature fermentation in order to preserve the aroma.

Convinced that quality and quantity are inversely proportional, KUTMAN always limits its production and sales. It is certain that accelerated production will result in the loss of quality.

The processing of the grapes and the aging of the wines take place at our facilities in Mürefte and Silivri. The wines that we judge to have aged to maturity are bottled in our facilities in Istanbul and are prepared for sale. Public relations, export and import -in short all management- are coordinated from our central office in Gaziosmanpaşa.

Vinification

There are two factors considered most important in wine production. The first is the human part: the skill and the experience. The second is the existence of high-quality grapes. There is no dispute as to the importance of modern technology in which we have to make continuous investments. This modern technology enables us to produce greater amounts in less time and maintain homogeneity in terms of packaging.

Although Turkey has long been an important producer of grapes, a very small proportion of these grapes is used in winemaking. This has two main reasons. The first is that until recently, Turkey was not well known as a "wine country". The second reason is that wine is consumed in much smaller quantities in comparison to other local alcoholic drinks.

The basic rule is "wine can be made from all grapes, but quality wine cannot". Even though the widespread native grapes are used in winemaking, high quality wine grapes are needed in order to obtain high quality wine. Acknowledging this fact, KUTMAN grows the most popular wine grapes of the world, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc both in its own vineyards and in the vineyards of contracted producers (farmers), and processes these grapes into monocepage (wine produced from only one variety of grape) and coupage (blended) wines, thus earning the well-deserved admiration of the consumer.

Naturally, various native grapes that grow in the numerous regions of Anatolia are included in the blends. Grapes that are indispensable in blending include Cinsault and Karasakız of Thrace, Çalkarası of Denizli, Allicante of Manisa, Kalecik Karası of Ankara, Öküzgüzü and Boğazkere of Elazığ and Diyarbakır for red wines, and Emir of Nevşehir, Sultaniye of Manisa and Semillon -now considered indigenous to Thrace- for white wines.

But which wine should be blended with which? When and in what proportion? And finally, when should that blend be bottled? Years of experience and tasting skills that pass from generation to generation are required in order to answer that question.

Things All Wine Lovers Must Know

• The color of Wine

It is basic knowledge that white wines are made from white grapes and red and rose wines are made from red and black grapes. Rose wines, contrary to general conviction, are not made by mixing red and white wines.

The color of red wine comes from the skin of the grape. The juice of red grapes is originally white, but because the juice undergoes alcoholic fermentation with the crust, the color pigments in the crust dissolve into the wine by means of enzymes. The chemical process called alcoholic fermentation is the period in which the sugar in the grape juice turns into alcohol. Sugar is broken down by microorganisms and as a result, alcohol is produced while carbondioxide is freed.



• Blending the Wine

The majority of wines are obtained by blending the wines made from different grapes. Blending is done between the completion of the fermentation and the beginning of the aging process; the musts are not mixed.



• Aging the Wine

  We have previously mentioned that one of the most important factors influencing the quality of the wine is the grape. Depending on the grape it was made from, the wine is either suitable or unsuitable for aging. Wines that do not have a strong chemical structure start to lose their quality after two or three years, age very fast and "die".
  
  It should be remembered that although white wines are strong enough to endure aging, they do not necessarily improve when aged. On the contrary, many turn yellow and lose acidity. However, aged white wines can also have positive characteristics that they are expected to have. They gain body and the glycerine contained becomes more conspicuous. There are many aged wine fans that adore these characteristics. As a rule, white wines should be consumed within five years after production. White wines that maintain their vitality after five years should be comprehended as the products of meticulous work.
  
  The changes red wines undergo during the course of aging are more diverse. Almost all red wines increase in quality in the first two years. Some wines can undergo rapid aging after that. Cinsault, Çalkarası, Allicante, Carignan and Gamay are very vivid, dark, bright and purplish red in the first two years, but begin to turn brown and lose vitality after two or three years. On the other hand, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, Boğazkere, Merlot and Syrah maintain their high quality for five to six years. Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir (Papaskarası) can age up to 20 years.
  
  It is natural for the aging wine to lose some of its color, but the most important properties are the maintenance of body and the harmonization of the taste.

• The Storage of Wine

The storage of wine, that is, its preservation in the wine lover's collection is a craft on its own. The place where the wine is to be kept should be dry and the temperature should be constant over the year, should not be exposed to light and definitely not to sunIight. The wine bottle should lie horizontally in order to keep the cork wet and prevent it from disintegrating. Like wine, corks have a certain "life span"; depending on their quality, they can last for 3 to 15 years. If the wines in a cellar are to be aged for longer, it is a good idea to check the corks and replace them with new ones if necessary.

The most common complaint we hear among assemblies is this; "I bought a bottle of wine, kept it in my cellar for years and decided to uncork it when I had an important guest coming. When we uncorked it, we saw that it smelled very bad and tasted like vinegar."

This is a common complaint. Please remember, you should buy at least one large package of the wine you wish to age, place it in your cellar and observe the wine from then onwards. Open and drink a bottle every 4 or 5 months. Thus you will know of the changes the wine undergoes. If the changes are positive, continue to age the wine. If not, it means that the positive change has stopped, there is no improvement. In that case, uncork and drink the rest in 1 or 2 months. That is the way to age wine.

• The tasting of Wine

Uncork red wines half an hour before serving so that the wine will make its taste and aroma more conspicuous upon contact with air. Today, wine -especially red wine- is served in quite large and balloon-shaped glasses to allow the drinker to gently shake the wine in order to intensify the aroma. Less than half of the glass should be filled. The first thing to do is to hold the glass against light to test for brightness. Then, the glass is held near a white surface to check the vivacity of the colors. The color should be bright and vivid, and there should be no foreign particles in the wine. White wine should be bright greenish yellow while red wine is expected to have a dark red, bright, vivid and -depending on its age- brownish or purplish red color.

Wine should be drunk in litte sips; it should travel around the mouth since different regions of the tongue are sensitive to different tastes. After that the sip should be swallowed slowly and the taste it leaves in the pharynx should be felt. The taste of the wine should be prominent, fıll the mouth (necessary especially for red wine), contain no sharp or extrinsic flavors, and should be reminiscent of the the taste of the grape the wine was produced from.

• Serving Wine

  You are advised to serve the wine at the temperature designated on the labels and on the brochures. Basically, white and sparkling wines should be served cool, and red wines at about 16-18 degrees. Rosé wines are served cool like white wines. Red wines are normally served at room temperature, but the Primeurs -the only exceptions to this- can be served cool.