I went to a tasting at 67 Pall Mall today, of some interesting Turkish wines. They’re from Kayra, a company formed 10 years ago when a drinks company, Mey, that had been formed from the privatisation of the state monopoly, was bought by a private equity group. Now they are part of Diageo. The tasting was presented by winemaker Daniel O’Donnell, and a full write up plus a video can be found here. This was probably my favourite wine: it’s made from an indigenous variety Kalecik Karasi, grown at 850 m in clay/limestone soils. It’s a very fresh, Pinot Noir-like red with lovely precision. Daniel was quite open about his use of cherry wood chips in the ferment, which for this variety is pretty fast. He says they make quite a difference.

Kayra Kalecik 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

UK agent is Hallgarten

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com