Thrace and Marmara covers European Turkey and the shores of the Sea of Marmara: from Kırklareli and Edirne near the Bulgarian and Greek borders to Tekirdağ, the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu) and two islands, Bozcaada in the Aegean and Avşa in the Sea of Marmara. Close to Istanbul, it is one of Turkey’s most important wine regions, and many of the country’s wineries are based here. Three seas shape the climate: the Black Sea to the north, the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean to the south and west; inland, winters are cold and summers hot and dry.
The mountain above Mürefte
The heart of the region is the coast between Tekirdağ and Şarköy, where the vineyards of Mürefte and Şarköy lie between the Ganos mountains and the sea. Wine has a long history here: in Byzantine times Mount Ganos was an important monastic centre surrounded by vineyards, and kilns at Ganos, today Gaziköy, fired the amphorae in which the wine was shipped across the Sea of Marmara, probably mostly to Constantinople; underwater archaeologists have found several wrecks laden with them. As elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, winemaking was long mostly in the hands of non-Muslim communities, on this coast above all Greeks, until the population exchange of 1923. Doluca, founded in 1926 and long based at Mürefte, brought in European grapes such as Cinsault, Sémillon and Riesling in the 1930s.
In the glass
The grapes the region is known for, by sweetness, acidity, tannin and body.
| Grape | Sweetness | Acidity | Tannin | Body |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlot | dry | medium(−) to medium | medium(−) to medium(+) | medium to full |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | dry | medium to high | medium(+) to high | medium to full |
| Syrah | dry | medium to medium(+) | medium to high | medium to full |
| Sauvignon Blanc | dry | medium(+) to high | white, no tannin | medium(−) to medium |
| Semillon | dry, also luscious | medium(−) to high | white, no tannin | light 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. Outlined: a sweet style beside the dry wines.
Today the modern estates grow mainly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Sémillon; some also grow Kalecik Karası from Central Anatolia. The local grapes are more distinctive. Papaskarası (also Papazkarası), the “priest’s black”, grows mainly around Kırklareli and Edirne and gives fresh, spicy reds of medium body. The white Yapıncak survives mainly around Şarköy. On Avşa, a holiday island in the Sea of Marmara, Adakarası, the “black of the island”, gives fruity reds and rosés; the grape and its wine are now protected by geographical indications.
Bozcaada, the wine island
Bozcaada, ancient Tenedos off the coast near Troy, has been a wine island since antiquity: its early coins already showed grapes and wine vessels, and in 1906 wine and raisins were still its main exports. Vineyards cover about a third of the island, which is swept by strong northerly winds in summer. Four local grapes grow there: Kuntra, also called Karasakız, and Karalahna for red wine, Vasilaki and Çavuş, which is mostly eaten fresh as a table grape, for white.
With Tekirdağ köfte
What to drink: a Papaskarası with Tekirdağ köfte, the town’s famous grilled meatballs; a Vasilaki or a Sauvignon Blanc with grilled fish and brined white cheese from Ezine; an Adakarası rosé with meze; a Merlot or a Bordeaux-style blend from Thrace with roast lamb.