KAYRA Kalecik Karasi 2014

(Turkey) $12

Turkish wine is not well known to most of us, but a recent tasting of this and other Near East wines convinced me it should be. According to the winemaker, the grape kalecik karsai (ka-LEE-jick KAR-a-sigh) is one of the most popular in Turkey’s Central Anatolia region, a rocky, dry area that “looks like Mars” and is interspersed with both volcanic and limestone soils. I found the wine to be fresh, lively and rich all at the same time, with a delicious spicy, minerality and a long finish. Central Anatolia is one of the world’s earliest sites of grapevine domestication. Wine was made here sometime between 6000 and 3000 BC. The mind spins just thinking about that.

89 points