Wine Tasting in Cappadocia, Turkey
We spent a month in Istanbul prior to our visit to Cappadocia, so we were aware that many of the most popular wine labels call central Turkey their home — most notably the Turasan and Kocabağ wineries.
Having done a lot of hiking in Cappadocia, it was no surprise to us that, according to Wikipedia “the soil found in the region is sand, sandstone, and decomposed volcanic tuff, the latter contributing to good quality grapes for wine production.” In Cappadocia, Western varietals, like Chardonnay, Malbec and Tempranillo are grown, in addition to many native Turkish grapes, such as Emir, Kalecik Karası, Narince, and Öküzgözü. The Cappadocia region produces approximately 12% of all Turkish wine.
Our first wine stop, Turasan, got off to a bit of a rocky start. We took a cab from our hotel in Göreme to the wine village of Ürgüp — about a 13 minute drive. When we arrived outside of Turasan, we were surprised to see a large tourist bus and the winery packed FULL of people. Undeterred, we entered to see tastings offered at the bar. We squeezed between people to try a few of their basic Turasan label wines for free. As the crowds began to head back to the bus, we inquired about additional tastings, and we were offered to taste three wine from their higher-end label, Seneler, for a small fee.
The entire experience was pretty impersonal, as we stood at the bar trying to get the bartender’s attention to ask questions about the various labels. When it was time to pay, we saw a few older, more expensive bottles of wine next to the cash register, and decided to splurge 180 lira ($35) for a 2011 Seneler Öküzgözü (my favorite Turkish red grape) to take back home to share with friends (it is currently in our wine refrigerator in Chicago waiting to be opened!). Their wines and selection are good, but do not expect intimate service.
About a five minute walk from Turasan is the infinitely cute wine bar, Efendi. In complete contrast to Turasan, we entered to find a few family members socializing, with no other patrons present. We did have a small bit of a language barrier (we do not speak Turkish and their English was minimal), but we were offered a free tasting of their open wines — all of which were from the Kocabağ winery. Our interpretation of what they were telling us is that they ONLY serve Kocabağ wines, which led us to believe the two businesses are related somehow.
After deciding which wines we liked best, we each purchased a glass of wine to enjoy in their adorable sun room. We were served complimentary snacks and it was a wonderful way to relax on a cold spring day.
From Efendi Wine House, we walked another five minutes to Mahzen Şarap Evi, a small winery we had read about. However, upon arrival, there was only one man there that seemed to be cleaning up for the day and didn’t speak much English. He more or less told us “no tastings because of winter” (?) so we left. Our trip did take place in early March, so it is possible they are busier and offer tastings in the peak tourist season. It had a quaint, patio garden with picnic tables, and I would definitely attempt to go back next time we are in Cappadocia.
We ended our night with a lovely dinner at Han Çırağan Restaurant in Ürgüp. The building in several hundred years old, and you feel as though you are in a medieval castle. They also have an extensive wine list.
The next day we walked through Love Valley and White Valley to Uchisar Castle, and then onward to Kocabağ Winery (read about our entire hike here). Although we had tasted Kocabağ wines the day before at Efendi Wine House, we decided we still wanted to experience the Kocabağ Winery itself. It is important that you go to THIS location if you want to visit the winery, because two places will pop up in Uchisar if you google the winery.
Kocabağ Winery is a large building, not so different from Turasan, so I could see how this place could fill with bus loads of tourists — it just happened to be empty when we arrived. Due to our good fortune, we had the undivided attention of one of the owners, who walked us through a free tasting while we stood at the bar.
We tasted four of their different labels, shown above, before we each selected a glass of wine to enjoy. One of my favorite Kocabağ wines is called “Leo’s,” which is a high-end red wine that is a blend of two Turkish grapes, Boğazkere and Öküzgözü, with Cabernet Sauvignon. A glass of wine will set you back just a few dollars USD, and an entire bottle of Leo’s is about $20 (at the time of our visit Spring 2019).
Our last wine destination was a great little cave restaurant in the town of Goreme called Inci Cave. Located a (very!) short walk from our hotel, Aydinli Cave, we enjoyed a quaint dinner in the restaurant, and purchased a small pitcher of their homemade red wine. It was reasonably priced (~$10 USD) and pretty tasty.
While most people visit Cappadocia for the hot air balloons, if you are looking for other activities (or are unlucky like us, and the wind grounds the balloons!), consider reading my post on Five Things To Do in Cappadocia When There Are No Hot Air Balloons.
If you plan on wine tasting during your trip to Cappadocia, pin the photo below!
Click one of the photos below to continue reading my other posts about Turkey!
Wonderful post Brittany!!! I hope to visit Turkey someday and visit those wineries.
I don’t know how you pronounce the Öküzgözü wine but it sounds lovely and if you need a Chicago friend to share it with, I’m your girl!
Haha, it’s pronounced oh-kooz-go-zoo. And we will definitely crack it open for a nice, boozy red wine dinner at our place when we are settled back in come January! Thanks for reading!!!
Hi Team,
We are organizing the Wine Competition – Paris Wine Cup 2020.
Many European Wineries have shown their interest in this competition, and so would like to pass this competition information to all the wineries, distributors, and associations; hence, would like to post about our competition on your website.
Please let me know the possibility of updating about this on your website, and if you would like to have more information, feel free to reach out to me.
Awaiting your response.
Regards
Sabrina Carmel – Project Manager
Paris Wine Cup
This was such a great review! We ended up going to the Kocabag tasting room and we loved it! We bought their reserve wine called Gravite. Wish they would have shipped but they couldn’t so just enjoyed a bottle here in Goreme! Thanks for your advice and posts!