Cappadocia Wineries
There is no limit to the experiences you can have in Cappadocia. From balloon tours to underground cities, from Turkish nights to valley tours, from festivals to safaris, you can enjoy dozens of activities alongside history, culture, and natural beauty. A tour of Cappadocia’s wineries and a wine tasting experience offer the chance to taste wine made from some of the world’s finest grapes, grown in the region, at the skilled hands of traditional winemakers.
Wine tasting activities, generally favored by tourists, can also be special for honeymoon couples. Tasting wines made from grapes grown in the region while watching the scenery over a lovely meal can create a truly romantic setting for you. In Cappadocia, which has many production facilities and small wineries, you can get help from those who know the region well to enjoy this experience, or, as we preferred, join a Cappadocia winery tour as one of the activities offered by MDC Hotel. Let’s take a look together at the region’s most important wine producers.
Kocabağ Wines
These are wines made from grapes grown in Cappadocia’s Yeşilyurt village. Generally, grapes of the Emir variety are preferred. The story of these wines goes back to Mehmet Erdoğan, who started out by carving the rock in his own home. The facility they operate today bears the name KAV. This facility is run by the Erdoğan family. It has the capacity to produce 600 tons in a natural environment. The grapes are grown using château-style production. This term is pronounced “chateau” and means an integrated production facility. In other words, the vineyards surround the facility, and the company that grows the grapes is the same one that produces the wine. This ensures that the company can control all the processes that affect quality. After the harvest, the grapes arrive at KAV and are processed into wine using the gravity method, without being crushed. In these wines, still produced inside rock-carved structures at the right temperature and humidity, you can taste the flavor of labor, care, and thousands of years of winemaking wisdom.
Wine Houses
When we talk about Cappadocia wineries, in addition to facilities with professional production, there are also places where people produce wine individually in their homes. Wine houses are where you can taste the flavor of handmade wine. Among the notable wine houses in Cappadocia are Mahzen Wine House, Red Wine House, and Asım’s Place Wine House. These houses produce dozens of varieties of wine, so during a tasting you can find the one that best suits your palate.
Turasan Wine Factory
Although Cappadocia wineries may bring boutique businesses to mind, there are also places here producing on a very large scale. The Turasan wine factory is one of them. It has been producing wine since 1943, harvesting grapes on 500 decares of land. This factory is a popular stop not only for domestic tourists but for foreign visitors as well. The wines produced here are also exported. When you visit the Turasan wine factory, you should again taste the Emir wine we recommended earlier, as this wine has an award-winning flavor.
Ürgüp Grape Harvest Festival
The event begins with a traditional cortege procession. The festival then continues with folk dances and performances. In the later hours, the wine tastings begin. It is possible to experience a wide range of different wines at the Ürgüp Grape Harvest Festival. If you want to share this experience with the producers in Cappadocia, you will need to plan your trip for mid-September. Local companies will also help you take part in these festivals. I attended such an event through MDC Hotel. It really is a festival with a vibrancy you won’t see anywhere else. Watching the sunset with the energy of the festival while tasting wine with your loved ones is a unique feeling. As part of this festival, you can also taste many different and wonderful wines.
