Hallgarten adds Turkey to its country portfolio

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 18 April, 2016

Leading UK distributor Hallgarten Druitt has its sights on bringing Turkish wines to the UK market by teaming up with Turkish producer, Kayra.

Like Greece, Turkish winemakers have transformed their industry in recent years, with many up and coming winemakers keen to boost sales outside of Turkey and countries which have strong Turkish links, such as Germany.

Steve Daniel, Hallgarten Druitt's head of buying, said that now is the time to strike thanks to a growing interest in Meditterean food and wine in the UK.

He said: "With Turkish food becoming ever more popular, these wines are a great fit for the UK market. And as the wines are so well made and offer some interesting flavours, they are in fact ideally suited to any restaurants offering a Mediterranean based cuisine.

"I think they will appeal to sommeliers too. The Narince white goes particularly well with Asian cuisine, and the Öküzgözü is a little like a Turkish take on Malbec and is great with grilled meats."

Daniel added that part of what attracted Hallgarten Druitt to the winery was its investment in research of Anatolia's indigenous grape varieties (including Narince, Kalecik Karas?, Öküzgözü, Bo?azkere) and the "forward-thinking" approach of the young winemaking team.

"When I first tasted the wines at the Emerging Regions Tasting in 2015, I found them to be modern, well-made wines that truly reflected these unique, different and interesting grape varieties," he said.

"And when I visited the winery in Turkey I was impressed by the very modern set-up. It was spotless and run by excellent, enthusiastic young winemakers."

Kayra has vineyards and wineries in both ?arköy and Anatolia's Elazi?.

Californian winemaker Daniel O'Donnell has been working with the winery for the last ten years, helping it towards its goal of reintroducing indigenous Turkish varietals from Anatolia (widely regarded as the birthplace of wine) to the global wine world.

"We want to be known for producing wines worthy of the next generation of Turkish winemakers and are working hard towards this goal," Kayra Wines' managing director Gözdem Gürbüzatik explained.

Hallgarten Druitt will start off with eight Kayra wines - seven of which are indigenous varietals.

Printer friendly version