The wines of Kayra, Turkey An extensive tasting of these impressive Turkish
wines with winemaker Daniel O'Donnell
Daniel
O’Donnell (above) hails from St Helena, in
California's Napa Valley. For a winemaker living in Napa, you think
there'd be plenty to keep him busy on his home turf, but instead
O'Donnell has travelled the world working as a consultant. And for
the last 10 years he's spent two weeks each month in a country not
known for fine wine: Turkey. Here, he works for Kayra. Daniel
first got involved with Kayra through some connections with a
private equity firm, TPG (Texas Pacific Group). He’d worked with
them when they acquired Beringer from Nestle.TPG were in the process of buying drinks
company Mey İçki. This was a significant
player that was a spin-off from the privatisation of
the booze side of state owned Tekel
(a tobacco and drinks company). TPG
bought Mey in 2006, and O’Donnell was
pulled in to oversee the wine side. This is when the brand Kayra was
created. Five years later, TPG sold Mey to Diageo, the current
owners, making a handsome profit.
A short film
of Daniel O'Donnel at the tasting:
Kayra is a big company, making a lot of
wine, and they’re responsible for the popular wine brand Buzbag.
This is a famous Turkish brand dating back
to the 1944s, and the wine is inexpensive
and widely distributed. ‘When we took it we just wanted to make it
clean,’ says Daniel. ‘It’s from eastern Turkey and it wasn’t made
with the highest hygiene standards. We are also very sensitive that
it is near and dear to everyone in Turkey.’ O’Donnell uses the
macaroni metaphor to describe his approach to Buzbag. ‘Who makes the
best macaroni and cheese? It’s your mother. It’s your milestone. You
were brought up to know that this is macroni and cheese,
even if it wasn't the best example. We were very afraid of
this with Buzbag. We didn’t want to change this
brand in such a way that it would offend people’s historical
values. I didn’t want to change their macaroni and cheese.’
Kayra
is a work in progress. ‘We’ve had a lot to do in 10 years. We have
tried to fit 50 years of winemaking into 10,’ says Daniel. This has
meant a lot of experimentation to see what works best. He reckons
that for his first couple of vintages, he imposed his style on the
wines, but since then he has learned to work with the indigenous
varieties that form the bulk of production, and learn to listen to
them. ‘We have an amazing laboratory staff, and they have to put up
with a lot of shit with all our experiments. We have managed to have
20 different experimental two barrel lots in some years, whether it
is leaf pulling on one side, or simple things like that. Most of
those experiments have failed miserably, but the few that don’t
really become profound. Without the lab staff it would all be
forgotten. Oftentimes they are lost because you just miss a detail.
It becomes a folly.’
Daniel
is more than just a consultant winemaker
for Kayra: he spends two weeks a month here,
as well as consulting in Italy and California. His favourite local
variety is the red Öküzgözü, and he says this is the main reason
he’s stayed in Turkey for 10 years. He’s also keen on Kalecik Karasi,
which he uses to make rosé and a lighter-styled red wine.
Kalecik comes from a village near Ankara, but Daniel prefers to farm
it in Denlzli at 850 m altitude. ‘We really like the fresh fruity
characters of this grape,’ he says. There are lots of old vines in
Denizli, and the region has shallow, rocky, calcareous soils.
It's own rooted and dry farmed. These
soils are free draining and winter snowfall
is therefore important here because it drains very slowly and you
get decent water accumulation in the springtime.
THE WINES
Kayra Beyaz Kalecik Karasi Rosé Blanc de Noirs
2015 Denizli, Turkey Pale salmon in colour. Lovely textured fruit here with red
grapefruit and celery notes, and a hint of mandarin. Nice freshness
and purity to this with a hint of sweetness rounding things out (7.3
g/l). Really impressive. 90/100
Kayra Kalecik Karasi Rosé 2015 Denizli, Turkey Full pink/orange colour. Picked a week later from the same
vineyard as the Beyaz. Lots of red fruit here: sweet cherries and
plums with a bit of raspberry. Juicy with lovely fruity presence,
and a bit of citrus on the finish. 89/100
Kayra Kalecic Karasi 2014 Denizli, Turkey Aged in stainless steel, 50% whole berries. Use some cherry wood
chips in the fermenter which heightens the red fruits in the wine.
It behaves like Pinot Noir in its fermentation kinetics. Maximum of
three days fermentation once it gets going, and it is seldom
fermented dry on the skins. They don’t want massive tannins on this
wine. Beautifully fresh and expressive with precise red fruits:
raspberry and red cherries. Floral, perfumed and delicious in a
light style, but it still has presence. Such purity. 92/100
Kayra Vintage Öküzgözü Rosé 2015 Denizli, Turkey Bright pink in colour. Fresh, pure and direct with nice
precision to the cherry and plum fruit, with a juicy, lemony kick.
Very fresh and bright with a linear personality. 90/100
Kayra Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Izmir, Turkey 25% new oak. 14.6% alcohol. Sweet, ripe blackcurrant fruit with
some sweet, juicy berries and a bit of creaminess. Modern-styled
with some oak imprint. Freshness still, despite the ripe fruit
flavours. 88/100
Kayra
Versus Cabernet Franc 2010 Tejirdag, Turkey 14.7% alcohol, 25%
new oak. This is lovely: has some Cabernet Franc quality. Lovely
chalky fresh raspberry and blackcurrant fruit. It tastes much
fresher and livelier than the alcohol suggests. This is a lovely
expression of the variety. Some fresh cherries. 92/100
Kayra Versus Syrah Viognier 2010 Terjidag, Turkey 3% Viognier co-ferment. 15.3% alcohol. This is too alcoholic for
me. Very sweet and spirit with ripe blackberry and cherry fruit, as
well as a hint of mint. Silky and textured, but alcoholic. 87/100
Kayra
Vintage Bogazkere 2008 Denlzli, Turkey This grape means
scratches or burns his throat. It’s loud, boisterous and unrefined,
yet it can be charming. This doesn’t produce fruit from the same
places that vines normally do: the place the cluster forms is really
irregular. The leaves look odd too: they are really palmated.
Grafted vines, 40% French and 60% American. 12.9% alcohol. Dense,
spicy and a bit earthy, with cherry and cedar notes and some grippy
tannins. There’s a bit of leather, too. 89/100
Kayra
Vintage Bogazkere 2009 Diyarbakir, Turkey Own rooted. 15%
French oak, 85% American. 15% alcohol. Old layered vines that are
huge and go back hundreds of years, on the Tigris near the
birthplace of civilization. This is a very old variety. Mellow and
rich with dense, spicy, vivid berry fruits and some spice and tar.
Herbs and cherries with some tannic grip. Warm, rich and spicy.
89/100
Kayra
Buzbag Reserv 2005 Elazig/Diyarbakir, Turkey Öküzgözü and
Bogazkere blend. Created by French enologists in the 1930s. In this
vintage 85% new oak. Earthy, spicy, dense and savoury with grippy
cherry and berry fruit. Fresh acidity sticking out a bit now, with a
dry, dusty, grippy structure. 87/100
Kayra
Buzbag Reserv 2006 Elazig/Diyarbakir, Turkey Öküzgözü and
Bogazkere blend. No new oak. Fresh and juicy with lovely cherry and
plum fruit. Hints of earth and spice here with a juicy, cherish
quality. Fresh with some silkiness, and also some structure. Lovely
purity to this wine. Direct and evolving nicely. 90/100
Kayra
Buzbag Reserv 2008 Elazig/Diyarbakir, Turkey Öküzgözü and
Bogazkere blend. 10% new American oak, 90% neutral. Sweet, juicy and
vibrant with vivid cherry and plum fruit. Lively and quite grippy
with nice linear fruit. Just a hint of tar in the background. Juicy
and lively with sweet fruit. 89/100
Kayra
Buzbag Reserv 2010 Elazig/Diyarbakir, Turkey
Öküzgözü and Bogazkere blend. Sweet and seductive with fresh, juicy
cherry and berry fruits. Nice tannic structure under the sleek
fruit. Modern and quite primary, but there’s a lot of interest here,
and it has potential to develop further. 90/100
Kayra
Buzbag Reserv 2012 Elazig/Diyarbakir, Turkey Öküzgözü and
Bogazkere blend. 20% new oak (3% American and 17% French oak). Very
modern, sleek and appealing, with hints of toast and roast coffee
complementing the plush berry fruits. There’s some blackberry
richness. Very polished, modern and pure, with freshness and the
potential for development. 91/100
Kayra
Vintage Öküzgözü 2008 Elazig, Turkey 14.5% alcohol, 30%
American and 70% French oak, used. Dense, sweet, rich and chocolatey
with ripe black fruits. Has some lushness but also a savoury
spiciness. Great concentration. Ripe and dense with good structure.
Grippy and drying on the finish. Supertuscan in style. 89/100
Kayra
Vintage Öküzgözü 2010 Elazig, Turkey 14.4% alcohol, 25%
new American oak, 75% neutral. Roast coffee and spice on the nose.
The palate is lush and spicy with fresh, sweet black fruits and some
vanilla spice from the oak. Modern and pure with nice focus. A
little oaky at the moment. 88/100
Kayra Vintage Öküzgözü 2012 Elazig, Turkey 13.5% alcohol, 36% new oak (French and American). Fresh and
detailed with nice weight. Lovely cherry and berry fruit with some
mint, leather and herb characters. Spicy and quite juicy with firm
structure. Very stylish in a modern mould. 91/100
Kayra
Imperial Öküzgözü Blend 2006 Turkey 80% new American
oak. 14.2% alcohol. Sweet, malty, chocolatey nose. Very rich but
quite elegant on the palate showing evolution. Warmly spiced with
cherries, plums, leather and earth. Has reached a mellow maturity.
Smooth with a slightly drying finish. 88/100
Kayra
Imperial Öküzgözü 2012 Elazig, Turkey 65% new French oak
and 35% neutral American oak. Fresh and direct with sweet red cherry
fruit. Nice raspberry brightness, too, with some spicy, cedary oak
playing a supporting role. Has lovely freshness and vitality. A
sleek, modern, fruit-driven style with nice focus. 90/100
Kayra Versus Alpagut Öküzgözü 2013 Elazig, Turkey 20% new oak (4% American). From Kayra’s own vineyard, which is
more modern. Very bright cherry and berry fruit with some smoky,
brambly depth. Tannic and juicy with nice acidity and freshness, and
some tannic grip. Smoothly textured and spicy at the same time. Has
nice density and focus, and potential for development. 91/100
