Cappadocia lies in Central Anatolia, around Nevşehir, Ürgüp, Avanos and Uçhisar. Millions of years ago the volcanoes Erciyes and Hasan covered the plateau with ash; wind and water carved the soft tuff into the fairy chimneys, rock churches and cave dwellings that have made Göreme and the rock sites of Cappadocia a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. The vines grow at around 1,000 metres and higher, in sandy, volcanic soils. The climate is continental and dry: hot summers, cold, snowy winters and large differences between day and night, which keep the wines fresh. Winter frost is the main danger for the vines.
Cellars in the tuff
Wine has been made here since antiquity, and the landscape still shows it. Over the centuries the inhabitants carved cellars into the tuff that stay cool all year round, and some wineries now hold their tastings in them. The countless dovecotes cut into the rock, in the Pigeon Valley near Uçhisar for example, supplied droppings to fertilise fields and vineyards. Until the population exchange of 1923 many towns had Greek communities; the merchants of Sinasos, today Mustafapaşa, traded in wine among other goods.
In the glass
The grapes the region is known for, by sweetness, acidity, tannin and body.
| Grape | Sweetness | Acidity | Tannin | Body |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emir | dry | medium(+) to high | white, no tannin | light to medium(−) |
| Narince | dry | medium to medium(+) | white, no tannin | medium to medium(+) |
| Kalecik Karası | dry | medium | low to medium(−) | medium(−) to medium |
| Öküzgözü | dry | medium(+) to high | low to medium(−) | medium |
| Boğazkere | dry | medium to medium(+) | high | medium(+) to full |
Each grape’s typical range worldwide, not in this region alone, on the WSET tasting grid (Level 3, 2022): dry to luscious, low to high, light to full. The dot before each name shows the colour of a typical bottle.
Emir, only here
The grape of the region is Emir, a white variety grown almost only here. On volcanic soil at altitude it gives light, crisp wines with high acidity, notes of citrus and green apple and a mineral touch; its acidity also makes it a good base for sparkling wine. Narince from Tokat and the reds Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü and Boğazkere are grown here or bought in from their home regions; Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon complete the range. Turasan in Ürgüp, founded in 1943, is one of the oldest wineries in the region, and Kavaklıdere, founded in Ankara in 1929, also has vineyards in Cappadocia.
Two neighbouring origins complete the picture. Kalecik, on the Kızılırmak north-east of Ankara, the river that also flows through Avanos, is the home of Kalecik Karası, a red grape for elegant wines that almost died out in the 20th century and was saved from the 1970s onwards by Ankara University’s Faculty of Agriculture. In the Yeşilırmak valley around Tokat grows Narince, whose name means roughly “delicately”; its leaves are so prized for sarma, stuffed vine leaves, that many are picked long before the harvest.
At the apéro and with meze
What to drink: a young Emir as an aperitif or with fish and fresh goat’s cheese, a sparkling Emir with meze, an oak-aged Narince with chicken; a Kalecik Karası or an Öküzgözü with testi kebabı, meat cooked in a sealed clay pot, or with mantı, the small dumplings of Kayseri.