The kids were at the grandparents, so my wife and I went to a local Turkish restaurant, Anatolia Cafe. The food was excellent. The owner sat down with us to talk about the wines. We tried three of the 6 wines on the menu, all from the Kavaklidere winery.
Kavaklidere Cankaya
$7 per glass. I did not get the vintage. This is a blend of the Narince, Emir, and Sultaniye grapes. Green cold in the glass. The nose has white pepper and tarragon. With air grapefruit and smoke emerge. An austere wine. Not bad and went well with a Lentil soup. 50+3+11+16+5=85
Kavaklidere Selection
$8 per glass. I again did not get the vintage. A blend of the Öküzgözü, and Boğazkere grapes. Purple/ruby in color, mostly opaque. The nose has dark cherries and dusty attic. A hefty amount of oak as well. With air, some tart plums emerge. Interesting wine. Not much in the way of tannins or structure. 50+4+12+15+5=86
2004 Kavaklidere Kale’cik Karasi
$54 per bottle. Kale’cik Karasi is the name of the grape. Light garnet in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is good, intriguing with cherries, persimmon, and pomegranate. Also some spice. It has an almost Pino Nero quality to it but a bit more dried. Also an earthy element. It seemed slightly acidic, but we save some for day 2, and it came into balance. Also slightly better on Day 2 with more complexity. This was a good wine and really needs to be served with food. It got better as I drank it. Perhaps not as much as the wine improved as I got to understand it a bit. 50+3+12+17+6=88
The Owner also poured us Yeni Raki. It is an anise liqueur served on ice with water. Similar to Ouzo, it was like liquefied Good & Plenty’s®. Very nice.