Turkish wine: ancient and modern

Amid a host of geopolitical problems, Turkey is trying to capitalise on its 6,000-year history as a wine-producing region. But can the industry surmount the country’s difficult business environment for alcohol products, asks Darren Smith

2016 has not been a good year for Turkey. The attempted coup d’état in July, the disturbing proliferation of terrorist attacks – these turns of events, on top of restrictions imposed since 2013 by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party – no alcohol advertising, no off-sales after 10pm, no shop-window promotion of alcohol sales, no free tastings – point to a difficult environment in which to do wine business.

Yet, amid these difficulties, there is a positive story to tell: one in which wine is being viewed by Erdogan’s government as an important symbol of commonality with the West, and which is fostering the emergence of Turkey as a export-focused premium wine producer able to compete with the best on the world stage.

Turkish wine champion Sarah Abbott MW works with 10 Turkish producers seeking to embed themselves in the UK market through the Turkish Wine Alliance. She says a positive meeting held in November between members of the Turkish wine industry and representatives from the Turkish government points to a softening of the government’s position on wine exports and tourism.

“The producers’ tack has been to explain to the government the good that wine can do to help the whole idea that Turkey is a stable, welcoming country,” she explains.

What’s more, the Turkish export ministry has invited these producers to propose a new programme for wine support – a clear sign that the Turkish government is willing to back the wine sector.

“They are acknowledging that wine is an ambassador of that positive part of Turkey,” Abbott says. “There has been a lot of negative news, but the minute you start talking about culture, gastronomy and tourism, countries see it as very much part of a soft power. The producers are now putting a proposal together to the Turkish government for ongoing support for Turkish wine exports. There’s still a lot of work to be done but it’s a real tipping point for Turkish wines.”

It may still surprise some to hear Turkish wine is at the level required to become a genuine international contender, but a lot has happened in the past decade.

One architect of change has been Californian winemaker Daniel O’Donnell, consultant at the terroir-focused Kayra Wines. O’Donnell began sowing the seeds of Turkey’s wine renaissance 10 years ago through a connection to Texas Pacific Group (TPG), a private equity firm that had bought into the newly privatised wine industry in Turkey following the controversial sell-off of state monopoly Tekel. TPG’s business was losing money, so it recruited O’Donnell to turn things around.

The shake-up

Admitting that his first year was “a bit of a ruckus”, with recalcitrant workers, woeful cellar management and wayward viticultural practices to contend with, he was inspired. Meeting his winemaker, Özge Karmein, was an important step, then there was the discovery of native grapes like Öküzgözü, Kalice Karasi and Boğazkere, and the country’s wonderful viticultural heritage. “The idea of going back to Mesopotamia and making wine was and is infinitely fascinating,” he says.

“When I started there, there was no history. Nor was there anyone who could tell me ‘This is what happens’ in a way I could understand – nothing to do with language. In the past 10 years we’ve tried to create that history.” While Kayra has already gained some traction in the bellwether UK market, with a listing for around five years at highprofile on-trade venues such as Hakkasan and The Fat Duck (where Turkish head sommelier Isa Bal is a key ambassador), O’Donnell notes that in the past 12 months, the interest and momentum has been building like never before. Acknowledging that Turkey’s regulatory environment for wine is far from ideal, he is quick to point out that where exports are concerned, there is only opportunity. “Turkey is now coming into its own and is on an equal footing with many other countries,” he says.

“The government is very supportive of exports; they subsidise trips and press and tastings. The good thing about the restrictions is that it is forcing people who might otherwise not look so seriously at the world as a market to think how to get their wines out.”

Another producer who notes this positive effect of the crackdown on alcohol in Turkey is Can Ortabas, whose Bond villainstyle Urla Winery on the country’s Aegean coast is already firmly established in several key export markets. An export focus, he believes, will likely result in Turkish producers promoting local varieties – an area in which he himself is something of a pioneer.

Revival of traditions
“At Urla, we have long been involved in an effort to initiate the revival of ancient winemaking traditions and the wine trade, as well as the native varieties of our region,” he explains. “We have managed, after a decade of work, to recover Urla Karasi and use it in a blend with Nero d’Avola. We have engaged in ongoing efforts for the clone selection of Bornova Misketi [Muscat of Alexandria] and the red Bogazkere.

“Our new passion is the white Gaydura, a cultivar native to the Aegean and also known in Greece, where it is almost extinct. However, we have managed to propagate it from a single plant found in our vicinity.”

A few hundred kilometres north, in Thrace, Chamlija is another emerging winery that sees its future in exports. Created by accounting executive and fine wine investor Mustafa Camlica in 2007, Chamlija is located on the foothills of the Strandja Massif (400m asl), about 100 miles northwest of Istanbul.

Chamlija’s first vines were planted in 2008, so the vines are only just coming into their maturity. Important indigenous varieties include Papaskarasi (reminiscent of Pinot or Kadarka), the Thracian Mavrud, central Anatolian Kalice Karasi and the ‘Anatolian Highlanders’ Bogazkere and Öküzgözü. On top of that are Burgundyclone Pinot Noir and Bordeaux varieties.

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Whites are made from native Turkish variety Narince, plus Chardonnay, Viognier, Riesling and Alvariñho, which, Camlica says, is the only such planting in the entire Balkan region. This spring, Camlica also planted two Greek varieties – Xinomavro and Assyrtiko.

Chamlija now owns around 85ha of vineyards, with production currently standing at around 80,000-100,000l per vintage; however, this year it moved into a new winery facility (with substantial funding from the government) and is set to increase capacity to almost 1m litres – three-quarters of which it hopes to export.

“We would like to see our brand as a global brand rather than a local one,” explains Camlica. “The Turkish wine industry now is focusing more and more on export markets which must be the way to improve our size better. The first stage is that we have to show our local varieties. Then we should expand our portfolio with the other, international varieties.

“Turkey is quite diversified. In terms of terroirs, in terms of varieties. It’s now for us to find out where the best places are to grow the wine grapes and which local varieties could really play a big part in the global market.”

Increase in quality
Of course, quality is a decisive factor in Turkish producers achieving their export objectives. According to Taner Ogutoglu, founder of government-subsidised generic body Wines of Turkey, that has already been amply demonstrated. The export value of wines shipped to the UK (a priority target market for Wines of Turkey) increased by 285% between 2008 and 2013, he observes, noting that the value of the Turkish wine per litre increased by 83% in the same period.

“Exports will be vital for the Turkish market,” he says. “When I established Wines of Turkey in 2008, 90% of the wineries did not have any hope that they would be able to export wine to foreign markets for people other than ethnic population there; today in the UK you can find Turkish wines in many prestigious retail chains.”

The on-trade is also a crucial nut to crack. In the UK, Kayra Wines is now imported by Hallgarten Druitt & Novum, whose head of buying, Steve Daniel, reports a strong take-up of Turkish wines. This is being driven by a sort of gastronomic ‘Ottolenghi effect’, which has encouraged diners to explore the tastes of the eastern Mediterranean.

Not only has the quality of Turkish wines improved dramatically over the past five years, but Turkish-influenced restaurants have become very popular,” he says, “with the rise in eastern Mediterranean cuisine and the Mangal theme – think of new openings such as Neil Rankin’s Temper and Yosma in London. “Listing Kayra in restaurants cements our position as one of the leading specialist wine suppliers for the Med, especially emerging wine regions producing interesting indigenous varieties.”

A Turkish buzz is certainly apparent: Bibendum PLB has confirmed that it is to conduct a benchmark tasting of Turkish Wines in December; Laithwaite’s is also rumoured to be looking into importing a Turkish range next year, while Connolly Wines and Spirits in Birmingham is getting Turkish wines into key independent retailers and restaurants outside London. The key change here is that Turkish wine is moving away from ethnic or non-winespecialist importers and into high-quality mainstream distribution channels.

A symbol of hope
Much of this embryonic success in the UK is down to the Turkish Wine Alliance, the group of 10 producers – Arcadia, Büyülübag, Diren, Doluca, Gidatay, Kavaklidere, Kayra, Pamukkale, Sevilen, and Vinkara – for whom Sarah Abbott MW plays a central role.

Formed two years ago, TWA engages in press outreach, distributor meetings and sampling, while some of its producers have set up their own small import company to bring stock into the UK. Abbott then leads a small delivery team taking the wines into influential on and off-trade venues.

The group now has listings in 30 restaurants and other wine venues, mostly in London but also beyond, and restaurantcum- wine shop hybrids Chiltern Fire House, Pied à Terre, Milk & Honey, Sager + Wilde. Patently the market penetration is getting there. The first step, two years ago, Abbott explains, was to persuade people to take the wines seriously.

“We had to stop people sniggering,” she says. “We had to establish the concept that you have these ancient varieties, you have his fantastic, ancient terroir and that, whatever the geopolitical challenges, it is a wine land.”

She explains that with Wines of Turkey, producers pay for their foreign marketing and promotional activity then the government pays them back. However, regulations on how refunds are paid are so tight that, for example, the person who authorises the refunds of marketing costs has specified that producers cannot make any advance payments.

“It makes it really hard for them to act. They have a strategy but they are hamstrung. The government wants to see events. Anything about conversations to achieve strategic distribution, anything about paying for market intelligence, surveying trade attitudes to the wines, is hard to get funding for.”

That foundation level of support – for market intelligence and market strategy for the whole sector – and sustained distribution will be vital if Turkish wine producers are to make the most of what is clearly a major opportunity in exports. The signs from the government, she believes, are positive.

“I think the will is there, the interest in the wines, certainly here, is great, and now it’s just about securing that support and strategic distribution, and bringing all of the great producers into the sector so you keep it fair and diverse. It’s time for it to mature as a collaborative industry.”