I was in the Royal Marines for 11 yrs. I retired to study geophysics and have been a freelance con...
I was in the Royal Marines for 11 yrs. I retired to study geophysics and have been a freelance consultant since 1980. I live with my wife in West Dorset and travel through my work about 6 mths per year. I have worked in over 50 countries worldwide.
Member since:20.03.2003
Reviews:33
Members who trust:4
Having made a hash of slotting my two last reviews into the right category, I found this no easier. I just want to talk about wine in Turkey - in general - and if you are contemplating a holiday there for the first time - what you might expect to buy.
Firstly I went to Bodrum on a sailing holiday in October 2006 and had a fantastic holiday, sailing out of Bodrum, which is absolutely gorgeous - a gem in fact, with such friendly people. I actually didn't want to go, having worked in Turkey near the Iraq border twice before.How wise I was not to refuse to go (which was on my mind)
"Toursit" Turkey is like that however, but wine is not available in general off the beaten track. If you are travelling by car or by boat - stock up when you get the chance!!
The Turks have been making wine like forever. It is not a new tourist gimmick, in fact if anything it is a somewhat covered up subject due to the country's Islamic roots.
There are many good muslim Turks however who drink wine and it is sold widely in the better supermarkets such as Migros (the largest supermarket chain throughout Turkey) although many of the smaller ones don't sell alcohol. Beer is more widely sold however and more easily purchased out of town. (Try EFES - the widely distributed one - as a lager type beer its OK!!!)
If you are going to Turkey and like wine, you can breathe a sigh of relief, local red and white wines aren't bad in general. But they ARE VERY EXPENSIVE in the grand order of things - due to high taxes.
Consider paying four times more for a comparable wine in France.
Dry Red and Dry White Turkish wines are clearly labelled as such on their bottles and a table wine will set you back about £6 in Migros. I am working here for a few weeks so have had the opportunity to purchase a few and have found little to choose between them - they are acceptable and far better than Greek wine IMHO - I can't stand that nasty oily flavour that all greek wines seem to have.
GOOD TIP: If you have local Turkish friend who has a "Migros" store card that he/she is prepared to let you use for free or a small fee, you can get substantial reductions
As an aside, on a fairly recent hoiday in Greece, months before the Olympics whenever that was, I had furious Greek restauranteurs scurrying to their cellars in their efforts to provide me with a wine I liked, and they failed miserably. My only retort was "why as members of the EU do you only sell greek wines to which they replied their wine was far BETTER!!!! "
Anyway Turkish wine is OK , you can expect to double your restaurant bill if you drink a bottle between two at a restaurant. Worth paying if only for the generally delicious Turkish cuisine.
Yesterday I splashed out on a bottle of "Kav" recommended to me by a friend - 2004 dry red - YTL28 in Migros = £14. No different to the £6 bottles so they won't get a repeat order - anyway I'm leaving in 2 days!!
It is not worth reviewing specific wines. Regional quantities are too small. I don't often drink white wine but I bought a bottle of "Antik" dry white wine thinking it was red, by mistake and it was delicious!
I suppose if you are working out your holiday budget, everything else is cheaper in Turkey than most of Europe (not forgetting that the larger southern part south of the Bosphorus is in Asia)so one budget cost will balance out the other.
Finally as a little tidbit, blackmarket homemade wine making is rife in Turkey due to the punitive taxes.(especially on Turkish current salaries) It isn't helping the legitimate industry. I have been given two large plastic containers of this stuff - red - and prefer vinegar!! maybe that's why they gave it to me!!)
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This "better" red dry wine was £14 in the supermarket
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Interesting review, surprised wine so expensive there.
gizmogizmo 09.02.2008 09:54
This revew did bring a smile to my face! I used to sit on the seafront in Bodrum with friends and wait while the cheerful little chap in a tiny shop used to chill our 34p bottle of Turkish plonk for us! not sure I could drink the stuff now though!
plod591 23.01.2008 00:59
A good review and quite useful to trvellers going there. BTW, I only came across this due to leaving a message for someone and saw your comment, tend to agree with you somewhat.
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Advantages: Lots of tours to do, including trips to swim with endangered turtles, Watersports, Cruises and Coach tours, Greek nights, Restaurants, Bars and Clubs galore in Laganas. Cheap meals and drinks, friendly people. Evgenia Appartments in ideal location. Disadvantages: Appartments very poorly equiped, Staff in accomodation not very helpful. Laganas beach is narrow and becomes a road at night.
Lizzyhills 18.07.2001 ·
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Review of General: Turkey
Jan 16th, 2008
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