Turkish Wines in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a hotbed of wine, it has been since the tariffs came down in 2008 and since then we here have had the opportunity to try wines from countries that, were there tax on wine imports into the city, and most likely these wines would have never really been thought of as wines suitable for the Hong Kong market.

Recently, Wine Times was fortunate enough to be invited to taste Turkish wines, the first time as far as we know that wines from Turkey have been imported into the territory. Like wines from Georgia, Croatia, Hungary and Macedonia, Turkish wines are going to take some time and a lot of work to break into the traditionally French, Italian and Australian wine drinking sectors of the Hong Kong wine drinking public.

The only Turkish wines in Hong Kong come from the Kavaklidere winery, the first private sector wine producer in Turkey and founded in 1929 in the city of Ankara. Over the years it has steadily become Turkey’s leading wine producer and now exports to all corners of the globe including the Asian, European and American wine markets.

The wines come from the renowned wine producing area of Anatolia where the winery owns 610 hectares of vineyards – so it’s by no means small production! Wines have been produced in this area for hundreds of years and the Turks believe this area has the greatest grape/soil/climate ratio to make great wines.

They make 49 different wines and export 20 per cent of their production, allaying fears that Turkey is not a wine consuming nation as many people think it is. According to the Turkish Consul General here in Hong Kong, Mr. Haldum Tekneci, “the vineyard areas of Turkey are almost as large as those of South Africa”.

Exclusive importer Evercohol’s Cass Lam told us “we are proud to be the only people in Hong Kong importing Turkish wines into the city. They are unique as they are only made from indigenous grapes but because there are so many international wine makers in Turkey these days, the wines are very reminiscent of other old world wines”.

“It’s also great that these wines have won so many international awards and accolades from places such as the US and Europe”, Cass goes on to say.

For me, the only disadvantage is the names of the grape. Although I am a big fan of indigenous grapes, the Turkish names will get a bit of getting used to with names such as Emir (white), Bogazkere (red), Okuzgozu (red) and Kalecik Karasi (red).

The wines are interesting and are somewhat reminiscent of other European wines but you can find out for yourself by giving them a try. Tuesday sees the first Turkish wine tasting event held in the city “Turkish Wine Renaissance”, as Evercohol are showing the wines at Zelo on the Lower Ground floor of Pacific Place on Tuesday 23^rd April from 7pm. For more information contact Cass or Connor at Evercohol 3975-5695 on info@evercohol.com or connor@evercohol.com