Reviving the Lost Grapes of Turkey

Words and Images by Andrea Lemiuex

Infographics by Empathia Creative

A casual wine drinker for years, Andrea’s “come to wine” moment happened, paradoxically, in Turkey. Her journey began when she discovered that Turkey did make wine, that it could make very good wine, and that it had a rich tapestry of native grapes. Since this revelation Andrea has devoted herself to learning about and proselytizing Turkish wine, while giving some love to other underappreciated wine countries and garnering a few formal wine certifications along the way. She founded The Quirky Cork, a website devoted in large part to Turkish wines and her first book, A Turkish Wine Journey, will be available soon.

Turkey. The mention of this country evokes thoughts of sultans and harems, sticky sweet Turkish delights, thick coffee, and hot air balloon rides over the fantastical ‘fairy chimney’ cave homes of Cappadocia. Wine is not the first thing to come to mind. Nor is it usually the fourth or the tenth. And yet, Turkey is, and for thousands of years has been, a wine producing country.

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