Discussing a grape variety involves much more than just its chemical and technical traits. These factors are important for everyone, not just those in the wine industry. After all, wine made from grapes and it has been a way to share feelings, create memories, and sometimes avoid them. It serves both for celebration and contemplation.
Let’s explore the story of Hasandede. I was intrigued even before I knew what kind of wine I was tasting. Something about its color and how the liquid moved in my glass spoke to me, conveying everything I needed to know without words.
From the first sip, I realized I was tasting something different to anything from previous experiences, that I must admitted, have been quiet several —something that stirred a memory I didn’t know was within me.
My research, and the few drops I was lucky to have helped me piece everything together. It felt like tapping into something old and wise. I tasted wine made from a nearly forgotten grape variety that has survived through centuries. It took me not long, to know there was not much literature about this grapes, not easy to find information on the subject, So I gathered what i could and I put some of my own experience in words.
This variety has been around since the Neolithic era. For those unfamiliar, this period marked the time when humans began to shape their surroundings, and cultural expression flourished. Archaeologists have discovered vessels, shrines, and carvings that symbolize fertility and life cycles in nature and within communities.
This took place in Anatolia, now known as Turkey, which is one of the regions recognized as the birthplace of winemaking, alongside Armenia, Georgia, and Iran.
Now, let’s talk about Hasandede, which translates to “Grandfather,” but I prefer to use the original name. That’s the thing with my modern North American hemisphere sometimes mindset, trying to translate every word, or experiences, In the hope to feel safe, perhaps, to Better related. Not the useful thing to do, when what I really want to share here is a memory, deepen enrooted in sensations.
The revival and passion of a few winemakers in Turkey, thousands of generations later, deeply move me. Despite facing economic, political, and cultural challenges, these men have chosen to share their hidden treasure with the world.
Hasandede grapes have the qualities that allowed them to survive nearly everything, even being forgotten for so long. They have thick skins. They resist many vine diseases. They thrive in dry climates.
While grapes are grown all around Türkiye, some regions are less suited to commercial viticulture. The central and eastern Black Sea coast experience excessive rainfall during the growing season, resulting in high disease pressure, which entails lots of care and knowledge form he producer.
Perhaps we should become like it, just to slowly ferment and rerun to the spot, even better.
This grape variety also contains high phenolic content, which means that even though it’s a white grape variety, it displays golden hues. Phenolic compounds contribute to: – Bitterness and astringency – Body and structure – Oxidative stability, which is crucial for age-worthy whites – Aromatics, with some phenols adding spicy, floral, or nutty notes.
The revival of this variety, also has producers to go back to the use of ancients clay vessels, as they called them tuks.