The wines of Vinkara

Vinkara is a Turkish winery in Kalecik, north-east of Ankara, in the heart of Anatolia. Vinkara specialises in Kalecik Karası, Turkey's best-known indigenous red grape, which takes its name from this district. Alongside Kalecik Karası, Vinkara works with other Anatolian varieties such as Narince, Öküzgözü, Boğazkere and Hasandede. The winery is also known for Yaşasın, a sparkling wine made by the traditional method.

Check out our 5 wines made by Vinkara

You might not expect it, but winegrowing around Ankara and Kalecik goes back thousands of years. Excavations around the city have uncovered drinking vessels from the third millennium BC. In Hittite times, wine was a fixed part of religious festivals. A well-known example is the İnandık vase from the sixteenth century BC, which can be seen in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.

Vinkara was founded in Kalecik in 2003 by the Gürsel family of Turkish entrepreneurs, who built a modern winery and planted their own vineyards. Vinkara is run by Ardıç Gürsel, the youngest daughter of founder Oğuz Gürsel. After starting out in the family's hotels, she has worked for Vinkara since 2008. She has built the winery into an international player and a champion of indigenous Turkish grapes. Vinkara exports to countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, although most of its production goes to the Turkish market.

Since 2008, the Italian Marco Monchiero has been Vinkara's consultant and chief oenologist. Monchiero graduated from the wine school in Alba in 1970 and then worked for various Italian wineries. He turned the Piedmontese winery Beni di Batasiolo into an internationally respected business.

Vinkara's vineyards lie in the Kalecik district, in the westernmost part of the Kızılırmak river basin, at around 650 metres. The river and the mountains to the west, which rise above 2,000 metres, create a microclimate of their own that tempers the extremes of Central Anatolia's continental climate. In sunny spells the mountains bring cooling, and in spring and autumn they catch rain that supplies the vineyards with water. In summer there are large temperature differences between day and night, allowing the grapes to develop good acidity and plenty of aroma. The vineyard soils are alluvial, with lots of sand and clay.

Vinkara manages around 65 hectares of vineyards, about 60 percent of which are planted with various clones of Kalecik Karası. There are also Narince, Hasandede, Öküzgözü and Boğazkere, as well as international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. The winery has a capacity of around 1.3 million litres and an underground cellar for ageing in French oak.

The range is divided into five lines. The Vinkara line includes approachable varietal wines, among them Kalecik Karası, Narince and Öküzgözü, a blend of Öküzgözü and Boğazkere, and international varieties. The Reserve line contains wines aged in French oak, including a Kalecik Karası from south-facing slopes at 640 to 690 metres that spends 18 months in barrel, a Narince, and varietal wines and a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

The Grand Reserve line holds the house's top wines: a Kalecik Karası from bush vines and a powerful red from the Boğazkere grape.

The Atelier line is for experiments, such as a semi-dry Kalecik Karası made by the passito method from dried grapes. Vinkara's best-known wine is Yaşasın, according to the winery the first Turkish sparkling wine made by the traditional method. It is made from Kalecik Karası, as a white blanc de noirs and as a rosé, and ages for at least two years in bottle. We currently have five wines from Vinkara in our range. You can view all our wines from Vinkara here.

If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Vinkara.