After 7,000 years, Turkish wines are making a global splash

With a winemaking tradition that stretches back millennia, Turkish vintners are flourishing as they revive an ancient craft.

Vineyards across Turkey are thriving, successfully growing both native and international grape varieties, earning awards, and gaining recognition on the world stage.

For wine lovers, Turkey is an emerging and largely unexplored gem, with wine regions stretching from the Aegean coast to the remote hills of Anatolia.

Here are some of the top vineyards in Turkey, organized by region:

Thrace

Turkey’s first regional wine trail, the Thrace Vineyard Route (Trakya Bağ Rotası), spans from the border city of Edirne in the northwest to Gelibolu at the northern tip of the Dardanelles Strait.

Founded in 1995 by businesswoman and philanthropist Güler Sabancı, Gülor is one of Turkey's first boutique vineyards. It gained fame for producing the country’s first commercial Bordeaux-style wines. Collaborating with Professor Nicolas Vivas from the University of Bordeaux, Gülor's initial successful vintages, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, have since expanded to include Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Shiraz, Malbec, and Petit Verdot grape varieties.

Chateau Nuzun was established in 2004 by Nazan and Necdet Uzun, driven by the belief that exceptional wines can only be made from top-quality grapes. The estate practices organic farming and produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Pinot Noir.

A major producer offering wines made from local Turkish varieties like Narince, Papaskarası, and Kalecik Karası, as well as international grapes like Riesling and Petit Verdot, Chamlija is a well-established name in the region. Its bottles are easily recognizable, featuring unique artwork on the labels, created by Irem Çamlıca, the daughter of founder Mustafa Çamlıca.

Arcadia Vineyards, known for its low-intervention wines that showcase the terroir, also houses the Bakucha Vineyard Hotel. It offers a perfect retreat for wine lovers, combining wine, dining, and leisurely walks through the vineyards and orchards.

With a mission to revive Kırklareli as a key wine region, Saranta launched its first wines in 2011. It was among the first Turkish wineries to produce varietal wines from Ökügözü and Sémillon grapes, as well as rosé from Cinsault. In 2023, the winery plans to open a modern hotel.

Former wine writer turned winemaker Şeyla Ergenekon and her husband Çağatay manage Chateau Ergenekon, one of Turkey’s smallest organic vineyards. Specializing in French varietals like Syrah and Grenache, they recently celebrated a gold medal win for their Bona Dea 2013 at the Korea Wine Challenge 2022.

Umurbey, one of the well-established vineyards in Thrace, has been producing wines since 1993. It was among the first in Turkey to produce wines exclusively from its own grapes, with just a 500-meter distance between the vines and the production facility.

The Barbare winery story began in 2000 when Can Topsakal, after studying in France, bought land in Tekirdağ to start his own vineyard. Collaborating with renowned oenologist Xavier Vignon, Topsakal turned Barbare into an award-winning winery, known for its oak-matured wines.

Situated near the Gallipoli Peninsula, Chateau Kalpak was founded in 1991 by Bülent Kalpaklıoğlu after his career in investment banking in America and France. Extensive research and experimentation led to the release of their first wines in 2013, which have since earned a prestigious three-star rating from AWC Vienna, akin to Michelin stars in gastronomy.

Suvla Winery, a prominent family-owned estate near the Çanakkale Strait in Eceabat, has earned over 500 medals for its exquisite wines. Their organic vineyard produces a wide variety of grapes, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Merlot, as well as native varieties like Kınalı Yapıncak and Karasakız.

Caeli Winery, founded in 2011 under the guidance of renowned French wine consultant Michel Rolland, is an ideal destination for wine tasting and relaxation. The winery emphasizes sustainable production methods and innovative practices, such as its specially designed cellar. The winery’s accommodation, Hotel Caeli, doubles as an art museum featuring 39 contemporary artworks, with a restaurant serving dishes made from ingredients grown on the Caeli Farm and Ecological Garden.

Aegean

The Aegean region, which produces more than half of Turkey’s wine, is ideal for cultivating grapes and is home to a rich variety of endemic grape types, many of which are currently gaining international recognition.

The history of Sevilen Vineyards & Winery dates back to 1942 when Isa Güner, the founder, moved from Bulgaria to Turkey. Now managed by the third generation of the family, Sevilen also oversees the Isaebey Bağları restaurant, where guests can enjoy exquisite Aegean cuisine paired with Sevilen wines made from grapes like Sultaniye, Karasakız, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.

Lucien Arkas, one of Turkey’s largest organic wineries, operates a single-parcel vineyard spanning 288 acres in İzmir. Known for harvesting grapes during the cooler nighttime hours, the award-winning vineyard cultivates a range of varieties including Tempranillo, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Marselan, Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano), Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Bornova Misketi.

Yedi Bilgeler, a notable name in the Aegean wine region, stands out not only for its wines but also for the architectural beauty of its hotel and restaurant, blending the elegance of European chateaus with the traditional caravanserais of Anatolia.

Perdix, a family-operated organic vineyard in Urla, won the 2022 Gold Medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards for its Boğazkere 2017 vintage. Visitors can enjoy wine tastings by the pool, offering stunning views of the vineyard's modern glass-and-stone architecture.

In Urla, local vineyards have come together to form the Urla Wine Route, celebrating nearly 4,000 years of winemaking history. The route features award-winning wineries like Urla Wines, as well as MMG, USCA, Urlice, and Mozaik.

Founded in 2018 by Juan Pablo Diaz Leon and Ceylan Ertörer Diaz Leon, HUS is a family-operated winery with a strong commitment to sustainability. The modern facility blends seamlessly with its natural surroundings, and a tasting room with a terrace overlooks the vineyards, offering two guest rooms for visitors who wish to stay longer.

Once a thriving wine region before the 1923 population exchange, viticulture in Yağcılar village had almost disappeared until Serhat Akbay began revitalizing it in 1999. The Iki Deniz Arası vineyard was established in 2017, producing wines and offering tastings by reservation.

Nif vineyard is distinguished by its striking glass façade and its use of gravity flow techniques to preserve the delicate aromas of its grapes. The on-site Gastro Wine Bar offers the perfect setting to taste the vineyard’s wines, including Italian Montepulciano and Turkish Narince, paired with fresh ingredients from the winemaker’s own garden.

Located in Balıkesir province, Madra was founded in 2005 by former architect Fikret Özdemir, with its first wine produced in 2012. Perched atop the Madra Mountains at an altitude of 500 meters, the vineyard produces fragrant wines like Bornova Misketi, Öküzgözü, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, all of which can be enjoyed in the Madra tasting room.

No discussion of Turkish Aegean wines would be complete without visiting the island of Bozcaada, where the town center is filled with wine shops and bars showcasing the island’s unique, local grape varieties. Notable wineries include the established Talay and Çamlıbağ, along with the award-winning Corvus vineyard.

On the Bodrum peninsula, vineyards are gradually emerging across the landscape, experimenting with different grape varieties and adapting to the land’s characteristics. Karnas Vineyards, inspired by Napa Valley wineries, primarily produces Zinfandel wines, often paired with fine dining in its vineyard restaurant. Other notable Bodrum vineyards include Garova Vineyards, founded by Mehmet Vuran, and Mor Salkım, established by the late Hasan Tahsin Erdemir in 2015 and now run by his family, who also host live music events in their vineyard café.

Çal

The Çal Bağ Yolu, established in 2021, is one of Turkey's newest wine routes, designed to unite the region’s four vineyards and revitalize the historic winemaking tradition of Çal.

Kuzubağ, one of the youngest vineyards in the region, was founded by Salih Kuzu and his daughter Aslı Kuzu, both from the nearby Hançalar village. Located at an altitude of 850 meters, the family-run winery produces a variety of grapes, including the local Çalkarası, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, Narince, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Küp, one of Turkey’s most renowned vineyards, has been operating since 1959. It is now run by the second and third generations of the Altıntaş family, who have modernized the facilities, which include a newly designed tasting room, a custom-built cellar, and a fully equipped laboratory.

Other vineyards on the route include Lermonos, founded by Hürriyet Yılmaz, who revived one of Çal's first wineries, and Erdel, which runs the Hanchalar winery, known for its Kalecik Karası rosé and a Syrah blend made with Öküzgözü grapes.

Anatolia

Despite the challenges of wine production in certain regions of Turkey, vineyards like Kavaklıdere Winery continue to thrive. Founded in 1929 by Cenap And, it holds the title of Turkey’s first private wine producer.

In 2003, two female entrepreneurs moved to Ankara's Kalecik district to produce the indigenous Kalecik Karası grape. Their winery, Tafali, opened in 2019 and has since become a welcoming destination for visitors to its picturesque vineyard.

Renowned for its fairy chimneys, Cappadocia is also home to notable wineries, such as Gelveri, which produces natural wines in a beautifully restored Greek stone building called Taş Mahal. Other significant wineries in the area include Turasan, one of the region’s oldest, and Kocabağ, founded in 1972 by Mehmet Erdoğan in his own backyard and now a modern family-run operation.

The journey through Turkey’s wine regions concludes in Kayseri at the Vinolus winery and the Sunolus Boutique Hotel. This organic vineyard, known for its Narince, Chardonnay, Roussanne, Kalecik Karası, and Tempranillo varieties, was established by biologist and yoga instructor Oluş Molu. She transformed her family’s farm into one of the few ECOCERT-certified vineyards in Turkey.