Your Next Favorite White Wine of Summer is from Turkey the 2013 Turasan Emir

Become a fan of Turkish wines, especially of the dry white Emir wine.

This is my second post about Turkish wine. My previous post about Turkish wines was about the Diren 2012 Öküzgözü red wine. This post is about a wine made from another ancient Turkish cultivar, the Emir.

Learning about the delicious wines of Turkey.

I'd like to thank my friends at Protocol Wine Studio for hosting a wonderful and educational wine tasting last month on the wines of Turkey. And a sincere thank you to VinoRai Wines importers of fine Turkish wines for providing the wonderful wine samples. You can tell that VinoRai is doing a wonderful job from their delicious portfolio of wines.

Turkish Wine FAQ

• Pronunciation - Emir (eh-MEER) 
• Emir is an indigenous Turkish white variety grown only in Cappadocia.
• The variety is called “Emir” (as in “Ruler” or, “Lord”) since it was a popular wine with royalty. A variety with a rich heritage.
• Cappadocia is in central Anatolia. Many tourist come to see the unique landscape and famous rock formations. 
• Anatolia is in central Turkey, also known as Asia Minor. Many Turkish varieties come from Anatolia. Hot air balloons are also a common sight in the region.
• Emir grape grows only in Cappadocia's volcanic soil. Emir makes straw yellow colored wines with green reflections, light-medium bodied with high acidity and delicate flavors. It is an ancient grape and has been made into wine for over 7,000 years!
• Native Turkish varietals include: Öküzgözü, Kalecik, Karasi, Bogazkere, Emir and Narince (first 3 red, last 2 white). These are the five most important native Turkish grapes.
• Turkey has 800+ indigenous grape varieties - it may be a founder nation for grape domestication around 7,000 years ago.
• During the long period of the Ottoman Empire (1299–1923), wine production and trade were carried out exclusively by non-Muslim minorities (Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and others)

*Note: Don't miss out! Purchase the Turasan 2013 Emir online: Use GETMY20 for 20% off orders.

Tasting Notes 2013 Turasan Emir

Color: Silvered straw, green highlights, some effervescence at open.
Nose: Pretty, floral, pear, mineral, lychee, vanilla cream, wet slate.
Palate: Almost creamy, fresh top palate, lemon, lychee, almost tart, firm, hazelnut, coated tongue, tart lemon-vanilla cream on medium finish. Balanced wine. Big like. Will pair with food. Tasty.

Day two:  Nose nutty, pear, mineral, honey, suggestion of dry summer day, appealing. Focused to mid-palate, crisp on tongue, dry pear, grip on roof of mouth and gums, light lemon-pear on very dry finish. Think raw oysters, sashimi, steamed mussels, soft cheese, apple, chicken schwarma and bread dipped in olive oil. Very good.

Day three: Apple honey, vibrant acid on finish, dry on tongue. Herbal note on nose, lemon skin. Creamy drinking with lemon pepper chicken. Nose more savory day three.

Thoughts: Good pairing with Turkish Kababs. Smoky char, lemon, wine. Very fun wine experience. Enjoyed with and without food. Wonderful wine to share with family and friends this summer. It could be your next favorite white wine. Recommended/Strongly Recommended. 

Closure: Agglomerated Cork
ABV: 13.5%
SRP: $14
Winemaker: Edouard Guérin
Importer: VinoRai Wines
Sample provided by: Protocol Wine Studio and VinoRai Wines

About Turasan Winery

The Turasan winery is the main winery of Cappadocia. Established in 1943, it is a family operated winery. Mr. Hasan Turasan is the 3rd generation owner. Turasan winery produces approximately 100,000 cases of wine per year. They have a history of working with French winemakers. Quality is strong and very tasty.

About Protocol Wine Studio

Protocol Wine Studio hosted the May 2015 #WineStudio session on Turkish wines. Protocol Wine Studio is all about wine education, thus a better understanding of our world via wine and our part in that world. Bravo. Follow along with our tweets on Tuesday evenings at 6 pm Pacific.

Create a Feast at Home for the 2013 Turasan Emir

I enjoy pairing wine with food and finding new recipes to add to my home repertoire. Knowing that I was going to be tasting wines of Turkey, I spent time looking for appropriate recipes. Turkish inspired recipes.

Build a delicious feast around the 2013 Turasan Emir. 

A lot of Turkish cuisine is Mediterranean in nature. They also have a bias towards grilled lamb, eggplant, lemon, yogurt and olive oil expressed in dishes such as: Pilaf, Borek, Kofte and a variety of Kebabs/Kebaps. Turkish cuisine is a product of centuries of refinement. I decided to go with a marinated chicken Kebab recipe for the Emir wine.

YOGURT-MARINATED CHICKEN KEBABS WITH ALEPPO PEPPER

I'm a big fan of Epicurious - I have the app on my iPad - I found this recipe for Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kebabs on Epicurious.

My recipe modifications: Working from what I had on hand, I lacked a few ingredients for this recipe. Here are my changes to this well reviewed recipe:

1. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The recipe calls for chicken thighs.
2. Tomato Ketchup. The recipe calls for tomato paste.
3. Dried crushed red pepper and sweet paprika. The recipe recommends Aleppo Pepper.
4. I marinated the chicken for 6 hours before building the kebabs.
5. Added sliced onion and sweet peppers to the skewers.
6. Link to recipe for Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Kebabs.

Marinated chicken kebabs ready for the grill.

Grilled chicken kebabs plated and ready to be served.

Dinner was wonderful! The kebabs had a lot of flavor and worked well with the Turasan 2013 Emir. I lacked flat bread, so I substituted warm flour tortillas. I encourage you to create your own family feast around Turkish wines this summer. Make your own taste adventure at home!

Cheers!