Is it coincidence that the “cradle of civilization” also is the likely origin of winemaking on the planet?
Although there isn’t absolute proof of those origins, the lands south of the Black Sea and east of the Mediterranean Sea have yielded the earliest known discoveries of winemaking dating at least 8000 years ago.
This includes the area known as Anatolia, comprising most of today’s Republic of Turkey, one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world. The area also has a history of empire including those of Alexander the Great, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine, not to mention invasions from Mongols, Persians and Arabs. From 1300 to the early 1900s, Turkey was the base for the Ottoman Empire.
Throughout, there was grape growing and winemaking. Given this, I find it curious Turkish wines are seldom found on the shelves of U.S. wine stores. I hope that changes soon. I recently tasted two representative wines from indigenous grape varieties and, though an extremely small sample, I was quite impressed with the quality.
The wines are from Vinkara Winery in Kalecik, a small village in mountainous Anatolia. The red, a 2012 Kalecik Karasi Reserve (pronounced Kah-le-djic Car-ah-ser, $27) is medium bodied with bright red and black fruits, hints of spice and vanilla, with fresh acidity and a sleek texture. The white, a 2013 Narince (pronounced Nah-rin-djeh, $15) presents searing citrus and mineral notes followed by tight acid structure.
Although wines from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also are just beginning to emerge in international markets, like Turkey, they still haven’t entered the psyche of American wine drinkers. Yet, here too, there is a rich history of wine culture, dating at least back to 800 B.C.
This is the part of the Balkans that made up Yugoslavia whose break up in the early 1990s led to tragic ethnic conflict. The Republic of Macedonia is a landlocked country bordered by Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania.
A brief review of the history of the area, again like Turkey, reveals millennia of conquests and empires. Most notably, Macedonia was the home of Alexander the Great who established one of the largest empires of the ancient period. The area has been under the influence of ancient Greece and later the Persian, Roman and Ottoman empires, the latter of which controlled Macedonia for over 500 years until its dissolution in the early 1900s.
Macedonia escaped much of the violence of the early 1990s but not the late 1990s, delaying improvements in trade and investment, including wine production, which only began to recover in the 2000s. In the last 15 years, though, the Macedonian wine industry has modernized dramatically but with a commitment to preserving indigenous varieties. Interestingly, my tasting revealed international grape varieties also do well here.
A vestige of this history, Macedonia has over 61,000 acres of vineyards, which are managed by 15,000 winemaking families and producers. I enjoyed wines from only two producers in the Tikves region, considered Macedonia’s vineyard heartland. But it was enough to convince me.
- 2014 Stobi Zilavka (pronounced zhi-luv-ka, $11): fresh, nutty cashew and almond, lime and apricot
- 2014 Stobi R’Katsiteli (pronounced Rkah-tsee-tely, $15): hay and stone, green apple and gooseberry, brisk with good body, tangy finish
- 2013 Stobi Macedon Pinot Noir ($15): nice plum with a touch of earth and polished tannins
- 2014 Bovin Chardonnay ($15): initially smells like Sauvignon Blanc, then develops intense aromatics and flavors of herbs and chalk with deep citrus and tropical fruit
- 2013 Bovin Dissan ($30): made with the highly regarded vranec red grape there is plum and notes of fresh soil; medium body and quite flavorful with a sleek texture
So, if you are looking for something different or just feeling a bit adventurous, go to the source and try these ancient, yet modern wines. And if you can’t find them, urge your local retailer to stock them.