After taking a break from wine tastings in 2024, we decided to make a strong comeback in 2025 and set some goals for ourselves. The first was to write detailed tasting notes for all the wines we tried using the Cellar Tracker app. The second was to share our favorite wines each month.
With the pride of fully achieving our first goal within the first month, we also proudly put together our end-of-month favorites list 🙂
To highlight the local wines we enjoy, we decided to separate the ones we rated 90+ into two categories: local and imported. Here are our top picks from January 2025:
Local Wines of Türkiye
2009 Vinkara Kalecik Karası Mahzen – Türkiye, Mid-Northern Anatolia, Ankara (1/29/2025)
Tasted it within a vertical tasting of vintages 2009-2012-2014-2018-2020.
It has a little sediment. The color is quite pale garnet with a slight brick hue. The nose is very layered—pepper, tomato, light smoked meats, and deep clove notes. Pronounced. On the palate, the intensity of aromas is high, acidity is still strong, and alcohol is noticeable but balanced. Medium body, long finish. The aromas from the nose are present on the palate as well—caramel, pepper, tomato, smoked meat, and eucalyptus. Ripe red fruits—cranberry, raspberry. Tomato paste. Earthy. The richness of aromas is phenomenal.
A beautifully aged wine that should be enjoyed today. A fantastic example of how Kalecik Karası can mature under the right conditions. Drink today. (94 points)
2019 Suvla Karasakız İyi ki – Türkiye, Thrace, Gelibolu (1/27/2025)
The color is deep-gold, bubbles are really nice and stable. On the nose, yeast dominates with notes of biscuit—it’s not heavy or unpleasant, but a beautiful aroma. On the palate, the bubbles are quite high; with a high-intensity flavor of quince, peach, linden, pineapple, and a touch of grapefruit bitterness.
It has an oily texture and is quite medium to full-bodied. The finish is long. The acidity is high and the alcohol is noticeable yet not discomforting. It also has a mineral character, slightly salty. The wine is well-balanced and complex. (93 points)
2023 Chamlıja Riesling KARTALKAYA – Türkiye, Thrace (1/3/2025)
While Turkiye does not have solid Riesling examples, this is one of the few good examples. Best vintage so far. One of the best examples of the Riesling from Türkiye. Really interested to see how it will be developed.
The wine looks light gold colored. The legs are slow. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like lemon, peach, mineral, and petrol. It tastes like petrol, mineral, lemon, lime, orange, and orange blossom. The body is medium/full. The wine has a silky texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has high acidity. (92 points)
2016 Hanchalar Öküzgözü – Syrah – Türkiye, Western Anatolia, Denizli (1/15/2025)
Hanchalar is a sub-brand of Erdel Sarapcilik, which produces mostly table wines for 5-star hotels. However, this sub-brand has made its own way. This wine has a really complex structure, is well-aged, and very rich on the palate. It does not have more aging potential, but perfect for drinking today.
The wine looks garnet-brick colored. The legs are slow. There is light sediment in the bottle. It smells like black pepper, blackberry, raisin, flint, dust, forest floor, vanilla, coffee, and meaty. It tastes like black pepper, meaty, blackberry, forest floor, espresso, and black cherry. The body is medium. The wine has a satin-like texture. The wine finishes medium. The wine has high acidity. Tannins are medium and softened, but balanced. (91 points)
2022 Kuzubağ Sultaniye Hür – Türkiye, Western Anatolia, Denizli (1/19/2025)
Kuzubağ has experimented with producing a semi-sweet wine from Sultaniye, the most commonly cultivated seedless grape in the region, for the first time using the on-vine drying technique within late harvesting.
The color is pale lemon. No sediment. Medium legs. On the nose, there are notes of petrol, clove, quince (cooked), pear, and hints of lightly oaked white wine-vanilla and another sweet woody aroma, as well as pear. Both on the nose and palate, there’s hazelnut, likely from the oak. The palate is quite elegant, with a slight sweet wine tanginess. High acidity. Flows like oily. Medium body, with a medium to long finish. The intensity of flavors on the palate feels a bit low, but it has the potential to evolve significantly with aging. The palate is balanced, and the sweetness is not overwhelming. It sparks great curiosity about how it will develop with age. Great wine! (91 points)
2013 Vinkara Kalecik Karası Yaşasın – Türkiye, Mid-Northern Anatolia, Ankara (1/29/2025)
Tasted it within a vertical tasting of vintages 2013-2015-2017-2019-2021.
The color is medium-lemon. The mousse is delicate yet stable. On the nose, there are notes of bread and ripe yellow fruits such as quince. On the palate, the bubbles are quite high, with noticeable minerality in the form of saltiness. Despite being claimed to have high residual sugar, it does not feel on the palate at all. Quince is the dominant aroma on the palate. The alcohol is well-balanced and not disturbing, though it lingers on the finish. The finish also has a slight bitterness, in the form of grapefruit. Overall, it is well-balanced with high complexity and a medium finish. As it opens up, caramel and tawny-like burnt sugar aromas come up, which are also present on the both nose and palate. (90 points)
2022 Mesashuna Rkatsiteli Qvevri – Türkiye, Central Anatolia (1/14/2025)
Although orange wine and amphora techniques have started to gain popularity in Türkiye in recent years, finding good examples can be still challenging. Mesashuna has achieved this, creating a highly complex and drinkable wine. It would definitely pair wonderfully with a nice meze platter.
The wine looks orange-colored. The legs are fast. There is heavy sediment in the bottle. It smells like grapefruit, orange, papaya, dust, orange blossom and honey. It tastes like grapefruit, orange, raisin, apricot, dust, cedar, lavender, sherry and leesy. The wine has a bright texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has high acidity. You can feel the tannins coming from both amphora and lees contact, despite it being a white wine. (90 points)
Wines from Abroad
2021 Castillo de Molina Carménère Tributo Gran Reserva – Chile, Rapel Valley, Colchagua Valley (1/20/2025)
If you like the Carmenere variety, then this wine is perfect for you. It offers high intensity of aromas on both the palate and the nose, with a remarkably quite good finish. Clean, balanced, and highly delicious.
The wine looks inky colored. The legs are slow. There is no sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry, blueberry, forest floor, light toast, black pepper and bell pepper. It tastes like blackberry, blueberry, plum, coconut, black pepper, meaty, flint, and bell pepper. The body is medium/full. The wine has a satin-like texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity. (91 points)
For more tasting notes:
Cellar Tracker Profile – Özgür: Link
Cellar Tracker Profile – Gülfiye: Link