Kalecik Karası is named after its home: Kalecik, a district north-east of Ankara in the valley of the Kızılırmak, the longest river that flows entirely within Turkey. Kalecik itself means “little castle”, after the town’s old castle; kara means black, and Kalecik Karası is simply “the black of Kalecik”. The river gives the valley a microclimate of its own, and the vines grow on pebbly clay loam. The capital, Ankara, is thus also the home of one of the country’s most prized red grapes.

Almost lost

In the twentieth century the variety almost disappeared. Phylloxera and long neglect had left only scattered old vines. From the 1970s onwards researchers at Ankara University’s Faculty of Agriculture, above all Professor Y. Sabit Ağaoğlu, set out to save it. They chose the best vines, propagated them through clonal selection and brought the grape back to the growers of Kalecik. Today it is once again an economic and cultural mainstay of the district.

In the glass

This grape’s colour and palate, on the scales wine professionals taste by: each range runs from the lightest typical wine to the richest.

Colour
pale ruby
Sweetness
dry
Acidity
medium
Tannin
low to medium(−)
Alcohol
medium
Body
medium(−) to medium
Intensity
medium to medium(+)

Similar in the glass ZweigeltGamayÖküzgözü

Steps of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s tasting grid (WSET Level 3, 2022). Typical ranges, not measurements: site, vintage and cellar move every wine. Low alcohol means under 11 %, high 14 % and more; intensity is how much flavour the wine has. The colour is that of a typical bottle when it is drunk.

Neighbours in the glass

Kalecik Karası among the red grapes by acidity and tannin. In colour and linked: the three grapes closest across all six scales; the five most planted are named too.

lowmedium(−)mediummedium(+)highlowmedium(−)mediummedium(+)highAcidity →Tannin →soft and gentlefresh and gentlesoft and firmfresh and firmCabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon (one of the five most planted of its colour): Acidity medium to high · Tannin medium(+) to highMerlotMerlot (one of the five most planted of its colour): Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to medium(+)TempranilloTempranillo (one of the five most planted of its colour): Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium to highSyrahSyrah (one of the five most planted of its colour): Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium to highGrenacheGrenache (one of the five most planted of its colour): Acidity low to medium · Tannin low to mediumPinot NoirPinot Noir: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin low to mediumSangioveseSangiovese: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin medium to highMalbecMalbec: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium(−) to highCabernet FrancCabernet Franc: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin medium(−) to medium(+)MourvèdreMourvèdre: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(+) to highMontepulcianoMontepulciano: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to medium(+)ZinfandelZinfandel: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to mediumPinot MeunierPinot Meunier: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin low to medium(−)Nero d’AvolaNero d’Avola: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to mediumBarberaBarbera: Acidity high · Tannin low to medium(−)BlaufränkischBlaufränkisch: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin medium to medium(+)CarmenèreCarmenère: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to mediumTouriga NacionalTouriga Nacional: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium(+) to highAglianicoAglianico: Acidity high · Tannin highNebbioloNebbiolo: Acidity high · Tannin highCorvinaCorvina: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin low to medium(+)PinotagePinotage: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium to medium(+)BoğazkereBoğazkere: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin highGamaretGamaret: Acidity medium · Tannin medium(+) to highGaranoirGaranoir: Acidity medium(−) to medium · Tannin medium(−) to mediumCornalinCornalin: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium to medium(+)Humagne RougeHumagne Rouge: Acidity medium · Tannin medium to medium(+)DiolinoirDiolinoir: Acidity medium to medium(+) · Tannin medium(+) to highGamayGamay: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin low to medium(−)ZweigeltZweigelt: Acidity medium · Tannin low to medium(−)ÖküzgözüÖküzgözü: Acidity medium(+) to high · Tannin low to medium(−)Kalecik KarasıKalecik Karası: Acidity medium · Tannin low to medium(−)
  • Kalecik Karası
  • The three closest
  • Other grapes

Across all six scales

Filled, the grape of this page; outlined, its neighbour. Closeness is the mean gap between the ranges on all six scales; on just two scales a neighbour can look further away. Source: Weinquiz after the WSET tasting grid.

Every grape on the grape map →

Since its revival Kalecik Karası has spread far beyond its home valley: to Cappadocia and other parts of Central Anatolia, to the high plateaus of Denizli in the Aegean hinterland, where conditions are similar, and as far as Thrace. The Kızılırmak thus links two wine areas: upstream it flows through Avanos in the heart of Cappadocia. Many Turkish wineries now have one in their range.

Compared with Pinot Noir

The wine is light to medium-bodied and ruby red, with aromas of strawberry, raspberry and red cherry, soft tannins and moderate acidity. That has earned it frequent comparison with Pinot Noir. Most versions are made to be drunk young; aged in oak, they take on notes of vanilla and cocoa. Its light colour and fresh fruit also suit pale rosés that smell of strawberry and raspberry, and in Kalecik it is also made into traditional-method sparkling wine.

Around the world

  • 704hectares of bearing vines worldwide, 2016
  • No. 318of 1,589 wine grape varietiesGrown in a single country.

By country

  1. Turkey704 ha · 100 %

Turkey last reported figures for 2016. Bearing vineyard area around 2023, from the latest year each country reported, rounded. Source: Anderson, Nelgen and Puga, University of Adelaide (2026).

With pide and lamb cutlets

In Turkey Kalecik Karası is drunk with pide, the boat-shaped flatbread topped with meat or cheese, with meat in tomato sauce and with grilled lamb cutlets; the rosé goes with meze. Elsewhere it suits the dishes one would pair with a light Pinot Noir or a Gamay: roast chicken, veal, mushroom dishes or charcuterie. Serve the red slightly cool, at about 16 degrees, so that its fruit stays fresh.