Continuing our theme this month of celebrating New Year’s like a Turk, Fine Turkish Wine brings you three wines to pair with traditional Turkish dishes: Rezerv Narince by Arda, "A" Cabernet Franc by Odrysia, and Late Harvest Semillon by Gurbuz.
Some claim that Turkish food is difficult to pair with wine. Absolutely not true! The rich flavors in Turkish dishes pair beautifully with wine, native and international grapes alike. From meze to dessert, there is always a wine pairing option. Even for the thick, savory yogurt Turks eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! But that is a topic for another day. :)
Often served at family meals for New Year’s, roasted chicken, or turkey, with kestaneli iç pilav (chestnut spiced rice) is a flavorful dish containing chestnuts, currants, cinnamon, and allspice which pairs well with white and red wines alike.
For white wine lovers, we recommend the Arda Rezerv Narince. Fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and French oak, Arda’s winemaker, Şeniz Şaç, then aged the wine on its fine lees, performing regular battonage for four months in French oak barrels. The resulting wine has depth, ripe fruit flavors, and subtle spiciness and pairs beautifully with roasted fowl and the brown spices in the rice.
Tasting Notes: Think of chardonnay but sexier and more refined. Fragrant citrus, gardenia, honeysuckle and herbs on the nose with flavors of tropical pineapple, yellow apple and lemon zest, all rounded by a long toasty and savory textured finish. Enjoy this well-rounded and complex wine now with light dishes and meze or age for a deeper more versatile experience.
Odrysia’s "A" line shows off the pinnacle of the Odrysia estate’s fruit and winemaking ability. Its Cabernet Franc, aged in light and medium-toasted French oak barrels for 12 months, is an outstanding example of what this grape can do. Generous flavors of blue fruits and spice play well with the rice while the wine’s elegant character does not overwhelm even the more delicate white meat parts of the roasted birds.
Tasting Notes: Striking deep ruby color with a delightfully fruity nose. Silky and smooth on the palate with notes of dark red cherry, raspberry, juicy plum, and pomegranate. Sweet date and fig aromas backed by a beautifully structured complexity including robust flavors of smoky cedar and dried earth with flavors of chocolate and coffee on the finish. A wonderfully complex wine.
We haven’t forgotten about dessert! Fırın sütlaç, or baked rice pudding, is a favorite dessert in Turkey, but its rich and creamy goodness can present a pairing conundrum. We recommend the Late Harvest Semillon from Gurbuz. This sweet Semillon, a combination of late harvest and botrytis grapes, has a residual sugar level of 52 grams per liter! It could be a dessert all on its own. Racy acidity keeps it from being cloying or sickly sweet. Instead, it highlights the wine’s honeyed fruit and spicy flavors which both compliment the dessert’s flavors and balance its creamy richness.
Tasting Notes: Perfumed honeysuckle and candied lemon bouquet with a burst of sweet vanilla for a balanced and rich texture. This gorgeous desert wine is not overly unctuous and would pair well with light pastries.
You can enjoy and purchase each of these wines at the Fine Turkish Wine Bottle Shop + Tasting Room, located in Houston's Montrose District at 1909 Dunlavy Street.
Andrea Lemieux is an international wine expert with particular expertise in Turkish Wine. She is the author of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine, the world's only comprehensive English language book on Turkish wine, and she is the founder of The Quirky Cork blog which is dedicated largely to Turkish wine.
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