Another LWF, other discoveries. This time we were delighted to brush up on our Turkish grape varieties of which there are many and of which we know nothing.
Karasakiz
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Increasingly rare, Karasakiz is nothing if not versatile having been used for Brandy, Raki, sweet wine, pink wine and what not. It is losing ground to Cabernet Sauvignon. The 43 ha. reported in 2010 are now down to 4, so it was surprising to find not one but two versions here at the LWF.
Papazkarasi
Another versatile grape this time making a drink called Hardaliye which involves mustard seeds, sour cherry leaves and benzoic acid. Wines are dark and powerful. There are about 204 ha. of this variety.
Emir
Emir is one of the most important white varieties in Turkey although there are only around 90 ha. It is often used in the production of Sparkling wine and often blended with Narince or Sultaniye.
Other non-Turkish varieties of note at the fair included one of our favourites Tinta Barroca. This has been used mainly in the production of Port or Port-like wines in Portugal of course and South Africa for example. It is difficult to understand why more straight Tinta Barroca wines are not made. What a star!
Now here was an extremely rare variety, Mouhtaro. Encountering this alone was worth visiting the fair. Mouhtaro is os rare that it doesn't even make Wein Plus Lexikon, never mind Wine Grapes.
It is a dark skinned red Greek grape grown around the village of Askri in the Valley of the Muses near Thebes.
Apparently Mouhtaro was saved from extinction by the Zacharias family at the Muses Estate and also by efforts of those at the Samartzis Estate.
It produces medium to full-bodied red wines with a deep purple colour.
You can buy a version by Samartzis at Tanners in the UK which is very enterprising of them.
So the rewards of LWF 2026 were plenty. Nonetheless we remembered the old days (now) when the show was big enough to make use of the balcony as well as the ground floor. Maybe next year?
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