「经济学人」Succulent grapes, sometimes sour

Climate and politicians can hurt the vineyards

In his time off, Umay Ceviker, an architect, goes hunting for ancient vines around his native Turkey. He has found them on mountaintops, forgotten among fruit trees, and tended in fields in every nook of the country. Each year he produces 10,000 bottles made from the indigenous varieties he has discovered, selling them to wine bars and boutique stores under seven different labels of his Yaban Kolektif brand.

Mr Ceviker is helping revive Turkey’s viticulture. Though wine has been produced in Anatolia for millennia, the country’s modern vineyards and wineries produce mostly French varieties imported in the past century. But Mr Ceviker works with old vines that have survived for far longer, many abandoned when the Greeks and Armenians, vintners of the Ottoman empire, were forced out. Many of the Muslim farmers who took over now sell their produce for dried fruit or pekmez, an unfermented grape syrup, rather than alcohol. Mr Ceviker has persuaded some to sell their grapes to him at higher prices and has bought several vineyards outright. He takes his crop to different micro-wineries using traditional methods. “With each vintage, we experiment,” he says.

Increasingly fickle weather is forcing farmers to guess when to harvest or how to deal with pests. Scientists are developing new irrigation systems. Farmers are adjusting their pruning techniques to make the most of scarcer water. Many of Mr Ceviker’s vines grow at high altitudes and are better able to withstand higher temperatures, although floods, erosion and cold snaps can also blight harvests.

But the bigger threats are the constantly changing laws and policies over Turkish alcohol production and sales. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim, has vowed to raise a “pious generation” of Turks. Hence a string of tax rises and sales restrictions have hit smaller producers hard. The most recent change, in January, compels all alcohol producers to put up to $1.5m into the treasury as insurance against any future fines or tax bills. While bigger producers can cover such a cost, smaller ones are struggling to do so. “The entire sector is on edge,” says Mr Ceviker.

He is preparing to launch his 2022 vintages amid a searing heatwave. Last year’s crop was clobbered by mildew. This year’s harvest is at the mercy of climate—and politics.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The travails of Turkey’s winemakers”(Sep 5th 2024)

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