The challenge, of course, is pronouncing the names of these grapes. With enough umlauts and diaeresis’ to sink a battleship, it’s rather daunting at first sight and a real risk of getting your tongue twisted in knots. So before we dive into the 5 main grapes of Turkey’s wine world – Emir, Narince, Öküzgözü, Boǧazkere and Kalecik Karası – let’s take a crash course in Turkish pronunciation.

ö same in German, or the English ‘ur’, as in ‘cure’

ü same in German, or French ‘u’ as in ‘tu’

ǧ - 100% silent, just to confuse you!

ç and ş- pronounced as ‘ch’ and ‘sh’ respectively

Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s start with a short description of each of these grapes. Note, we’ll be covering these in greater depth in the future, but at least for now, you’ll be a mean conversationalist at your next cocktail party.

Let’s sort out the whites first, located in Central Anatolia, as they’re not only easiest to pronounce, but some of the most delicious white grapes you’ll stumble across (when not slathered with oak).

Emir (Eh-mere):
Remember that stunning natural wonder I spoke of in the last article with unearthly rock formations called Cappadocia? Well, it just so happens to be the home of Emir, one of the few native grapes that can tolerate the frigid temperatures and high altitude. Meaning “lord or ruler” the wines were deemed worthy to grace the royal table, and tend to produce a slightly green, pale yellow color with high acidity, bright minerality and delicate aromas of apple and citrus. This grape also happens to be the protagonist in Turkey’s sparkling wine production, a small but growing style.

Narince (Nah-rin-dje):
Originated in Tokat, the transition zone where the Black Sea climate ends and turns into continental climate, as well as the Anatolia tableland south of the mountains near the Black Sea shores, Narince is mainly known as a blending grape. Tending to produce citrus and white flower aromas, its high acidity generally lends it to age well in oak, adding both structure and balance.

The 3 reds we’ll be focusing on are housed in both Eastern and Central Anatolia.

Kalecik Karası (Kah-le-djic-car-ah-se):
What Touriga Nacional is to Portugal, or Tempranillo is to Spain, Kalecik Karası is to Turkey. Considered Turkey’s trending grape, it also happens to be the name of the Kalecik district of the Ankara Province of Turkey. Ironic considering it was teetering on the point of extinction not long ago, it is now Turkey’s award winning red wine that is taking the international market by storm. Well, maybe better to say that it’s helping Turkey’s wine industry make a slow but powerful mark on the international wine scene. Light ruby red in color, these wines tend to be light in body with big acidity and gripping tannins that offer a long lasting finish of red berry fruits and a touch herb and chocolate.

Öküzgözü:
Pronounced ‘Oh-cooz-goe-zu’, don’t let this word overwhelm you. With your handy guide above, you now know to pronounce this grape with puckered lips, or just cheat and call it by its translated name “Ox eye”. Used by the Armenians over the course of thousands of years for winemaking and table grape production, Öküzgözü is native to the Elazig Province located north of the Taurus Mountains. Turkey’s wines produced from these grapes generally have soft approachable tannins with high acidity and big red and black fruit aromas, over an earthy black earth base.

Boǧazkere:
Pronouned ‘Bow-aahz-keh-reh’, don’t let this grape’s translation of ‘throat scraper’ dissuade you from enjoying its big, rich flavor! Grown in and around Diyarbakir, on the Mesopotamian flatland between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, these wines tend to mimic Baga with their big tannins and dark fruit aromas. Both Öküzgõzü and Boǧazkere are considered ideal for oak aging.

These are just a handful of the indigenous grapes that make up Turkey’s ever-expanding wine production, and don’t include the vast cultivation of international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay; but if you can get your hands on these, you’re on the road to understanding the unique character and possibility of Turkish wines!

Next Article: Turkish Street Food

“The popularity of the European Wine Bloggers Conference is growing so fast I am expecting it to be leading the voting on X-Factor next week. [...] Yet it is going through something of an identity crisis. … All fair enough, but if it is not in Europe, attendees come from all over the world and are not exclusively focussed on wine, blogging forms only 10% of content, and it is not really a conference, don’t we have a problem with nomenclature?”

To answer the question, I need to explain a little about the genesis of the event and the thinking behind it.

THE STORY BEGINS …

The European Wine Bloggers Conference was born out of discussions started on a Facebook group for Wine Bloggers in 2007. It was through this that I met Ryan & Gabriella Opaz (we are true “facebook friends”). To cut a longer story short, we decided that Facebook was not a good way to actually MEET bloggers, so we should organise an event to give us a chance to talk & drink together. Thus, the concept of the “Wine Bloggers” conferences was born. This is where our brand story begins.

The EWBC stands for …

EUROPEAN

We hoped to find a way to bring people together from more than one country. We were writing in English, but we wanted this to be international, but also close to the wine regions we are familiar with. The obvious, though maybe not far-sighted, solution was to call the event the “European” conference because it sounded more inviting to the people we were mainly trying to attract – the neighbours we had never met.

It was never the intention to limit either locations, participants or wines to Europe, and in fact the first event had participants from 11 countries including outside Europe. It should, in hindsight, really have been the “International” event from the start.

What defined the “European” event was that we had to deal with participants with multiple languages, from different countries, and an industry unaware of social media. This made it important that we focus on building COMMUNITY first. We couldn’t jump straight to wine tastings, or talking about communication tools without first finding ways to bring people together. This helped to lay a strong foundation for the event.

In 2012 this is particularly of interest since we will, in essence, be taking the event to Asia. One can argue whether Turkey is European, Asian or both (or neither), but the location will be an exciting blend of both worlds; taking place on the Asian continent, but in a modern city such as Izmir, while enjoying the foods, sights and sounds of a cultural legacy important to both Asian and European history, and on the subject of wine, a product arguably seen as more “European”. Turkey is certainly close enough to Europe to be in accession discussions with the EU.

After five amazing years, the community is what makes the EWBC so much fun, and it is a global community, so the “European” moniker is misleading.

WINE

Everyone who comes to the EWBC is passionate about wine. Wine is what brings us together, what we share in common despite differences in everything else we might do; professions, language, culture, communication channel, etc.

Yet, the event is not just about wine. This is not a Wine Tasting event with content tagged on.

The EWBC has always been a conference about “digital communications” where the common topic is wine, and as such there are many ways to achieve this. Few bloggers were exclusively wine writers. There have always been food bloggers, travel bloggers, marketers, consumers, developers, archaeologists, producers who also make olive oil, and so on. In fact, as organisers we strongly believe that to really promote wine we need to escape the “wine bubble” and get other people talking about wine.

We have been incredibly lucky to find sponsors in Rioja (Dinastia Vivanco), Lisbon (Wines of Portugal), Vienna (Austrian Wine), Brescia (Franciacorta) and now Turkey (Wines of Turkey) that understand this and have wanted to participate in this event to give their wine stories a context and to become part of the community so that we can both learn from each other.

In other words, the event has a strong wine message, but it is not JUST about wine.

BLOGGERS

In 2007 and 2008, when the event launched, if you created content online you were a “blogger”. There were other tools, but this was an exciting time to create your own content channel, usually on a blog platform. Facebook was a clunky, limited way to interact with people and build conversations. Twitter existed, but was not yet mainstream. Blogging was “it”.

The event also come out of the “wine bloggers” group, so it was natural that we should use this term to mean “online communication”.

However, we recall discussing this issue even at the first conference in 2008 in Rioja. There were other ways to communicate about wine and we started thinking that we wanted to ensure we also included those without blogs or those considering starting one. The event was started by bloggers, much of the conversation was about blogging tools, but it not was a condition of entry.

In 2011 using this term is almost quaint. There are many ways to create content, and blogging is only one part, but there is no easy all-encompassing alternative term. That is why we now use the tag “Digital Wine Communication”.

CONFERENCE

The main event has always been a 2 or 3 day “conference” programme including presentations, tastings, parties, unconference sessions, lectures, performances and more. However, the “C” in EWBC should always have been “Community” because the days of the event were really as much about the opportunity to meet face to face and share stories and wines as they were about traditional conference content.

Since the beginning the events AROUND the conference were equally important; there’s the amazing ‘United Nations of Wine‘ event that takes place just before the content where participants bring a wine to the “BYOB” to share with friends; there’s the exhibition area where we can meet wineries and wine related businesses and learn about their stories; there are also the post-trips to wineries, regions and tourist locations that are great opportunities to learn about the host venue.

This is not a “conference” in the sense that most people understand the term. It is an annual gathering, a community event, a learning opportunity full of potential to discover great things and make new friends. Does the term do it justice?

AND YET

And yet … even if we are neither just European, nor just about Wine, for more than Bloggers, and not simply a Conference, is there another name that captures the essence of the event that has emerged under the banner of “the EWBC”?

We have been thinking about this a LOT, and we think that the strapline “The Digital Wine Communications Conference” is a more accurate description of what we DO, … but “the EWBC” is who we ARE. We do not want to lose this legacy … and so for the time being we have kept the term even if we no longer think of it as an acronym, but more of a badge we are proud to wear.

So, in summary, for 2012 the event will be branded: EWBC, the Digital Wine Communications Conference

We hope you like it.

Please remember that the Sunday trips are limited and your decision is final. We cannot change your choice afterwards, so please choose wisely! We’re confident, however, that no matter the trip you attend, you’ll have an incredible time!

As for the workshops, they will be from 9-11 on Saturday morning based on the theme, “Becoming a Better Storyteller”. Each workshop will focus on a specific area of storytelling, including: Oral, Written, Photo, Video and Tech. These workshops are participatory, so make sure you bring your storytelling tools with you. Today we ask that anyone interested in the video or photo workshops ONLY, sign up now. We have limited space on these 2 workshops as they entail a walk through Brescia, taking photos and videos along the way. Please wear good walking shoes, and have a camera or video recorder on hand if you choose these workshops!

Sign up here for your Sunday Trips

Sign up here for  the Video or Photo workshops

European Wine Bloggers Conference 2010 Wrap up from European Wine Bloggers on Vimeo.

Our main task is to decide on a conference venue for EWBC 2010. So much of the rest of our organisation depends on sorting out this detail that we are making it our top priority. Vienna is full of gorgeous palaces and historic buildings, but it seems that the original architects and builders failed to take into account the needs of 150 21st Century wine bloggers for conference spaces, power points and WiFi … so a little inventive sleuthing is required.

We have a number of interesting prospects already sorted out, so we will report back as we visit our favourites. (Photo from Wikipedia)

However, all work and no wine, does not make these EWBC organisers happy, so we also planning some friendly meetings, interviews and lots of general enjoyment of Viennese hospitality. As well as an exciting planning meeting with our hosts, Wines from Austria, and some potentially superb sponsors, we would like to hook up with local wine bloggers to get to know more about the Austrian ‘scene’.

Therefore, we’ve reserved a table at Gmoakeller for Tuesday, March 16, at 7.30pm, under the name “Wine Blogger”. Any blogger that would like to join us are more than welcome, but please rsvp below.

Looking forward to sharing exciting feedback on Vienna very soon.

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• The European Wine Bloggers Conference has Announced its 2010 Venue in Vienna, Austria (prweb.com)
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