Turkish sparkling wine wins gold - 10th January 2024

Turkish sparkling wine has made a big splash in the wine market, a market typically dominated by French champagne, Italian prosecco and Spanish cava.

The Turkish bubbly is called Yasasin, meaning "hurray" in Turkish. It's proudly produced at the Vinkara Winery, within 60 minutes of the capital, Ankara. This bubbly came top in a competition for sparkling white wines in 2020, beating the local French champagne.

After Vinkara Winery commenced production using the champagne method, other local vineyards followed in its footsteps, meaning production has rocketed.

Production manager Naze Sahin puts the popularity of the wine down to the Turkish Pinot Noir style grape – Kalecik Karasi – which forms the main ingredient of this much-admired drink.

Naze Sahin: "This is an area of 85 hectares. In about 50-60 percent of it we grow Kalecik Karasi grapes. Our speciality as a company is focusing on local varieties."

Although universities and winemakers have identified over and above 800 grape varieties specific to Turkey, progress in the industry has been supported in financial terms too. Burak Demirel is a wine specialist.

Burak Demirel: "Since the beginning of the 2000s around 2005 - 2006, there have been positive developments in quality wine and sparkling wine production. New investors from outside the industry are entering the sector. It is an important factor."

Thanks to increased marketing, blogs and wine experts' praise, there's been a dramatic rise in demand. Yet last year, exports were limited to only 30,000 litres. The biggest obstacle has been attempts by Turkey's Islamic-conservative government to discourage drinkers, via increased taxes and legal means.

Even so, Turkish wine production is three times what it was 15 years ago. With young winemakers at the forefront of wine production, it could easily be a bottle of Turkish bubbly that's popped for your next New Year celebrations.