Melen Papazkarasi Reserve (2006)

Melen Papazkarası Reserve (2006)

Papazkarasi is a local grape of Turkey which can be used as a table grape (to eat) or in wine making. It is still not very widely used in Turkish wines. I remember that I had once tasted Kutman's Papazkarasi.

Melen has described Papazkarasi as "forgotten prince of Thrace" and made a wine labeled as "reserve". They also wrote that the wine is "oak treated", from which I understand that the wine has been kept in oak barrales or something similar hapened during production process. For me, only the fact that they made a wine from this beautiful local grape was sufficient to glorify. Therefore, I didn't care much about what oak treatment meant.

I saw Papazkarası Reserve's 2006 vintage lying on the floor in front of Mania Gurme in Istinye Park (a shopping mall in Istanbul). I thought they wanted to sell all of them immediately since they believed the wine cannot age any longer. I grabbed a bottle at around $ 20.

I think 2006 vintage of this wine should be drank at latest in 2010! Altough I smelled a nice strawberry jam aroma on the nose, I couldn't feel any tannins, body or acidity when I tasted it. It felt as if the wine had fled away from the bottle and had left a light color and light taste behind. Considering that we cannot know in which conditions the bottle was kept since 2006, it is possible that there are bottles of the same wine in much metter conditions. This one was only our fate, not necessarily yours.