Wine and Viticulture from Ottoman times to Turkish Republic

Three Turkish ladies talking about vineyards in Türkiye in front of an audience of academics in France, and what they talk about is totally new to the audience. This happened earlier this month in Tours, however, it was not a wine connoisseurs’ event, but a food history conference. It was the ninth edition of the International Conference on the History and Cultures of Food, an event that gathers food historians from around the globe. The conference is organized by The European Institute for the History and Culture of Foods or L’Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation (IEHCA), which is affiliated with the University of Tours, and is one of the most important food studies research networks in Europe. The institute brings together leading international experts in the field of food cultures, organizes regular conferences on various topics and provides training in the field of “Food Cultures and Heritage.” This particular conference we attended aims to be a scientific event of reference, a meeting place and an essential forum for all those who work towards a better understanding of food. In that context, our session titled “Wine Vineyards in the Ottoman Empire and Türkiye” truly did bring a better understanding of viticulture in Türkiye from Ottoman times to today. The idea to organize such a session came from Dr. Özge Samancı, head of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at Özyeğin University. She has attended all previous nine conferences, for me it was the third. Our third presenter was Ece Cankat, a research assistant at the Department of Hotel Management, of the same university.

From Lowly Taverns

Our themes complemented each other, Samancı, being an expert in 19th century Ottoman cuisine, chose the title “From Tavern Counters to Elite Tables: The Modernization of Wine Drinking Culture in Late Ottoman Empire” which gave a deep insight to imbibing among the Muslim male population from very lowly tables in meyhane joints, or drinking holes, to high tables in the Ottoman court. Apparently, some Sultans enjoyed particularly Champagne, among notes in regard with which wine goes with which food, the bubbly reappears numerous times. What was interesting to the audience was, the general perception in the West is that alcoholic drinks like wine and rakı, the ubiquitous grape distillation, belonged only to the non-Muslim population of the Ottoman society, as they were permitted to produce and consume alcoholic drinks. However, it seems that the Muslim part of the society did not fall behind their infidel friends when it comes to enjoying a few sips, or more. Despite the Islamic prohibition of alcohol in Ottoman society, we have several written documents such as travelers’ accounts, memoirs, purchase documents that reveal the fact that alcohol consumption was not confined to non-Muslims, and Muslim men also engaged in wine drinking in taverns run buy mostly Christians. But drinking was not seen only in such public watering holes. Furthermore, wine was also a part of courtly feasts held in the imperial palace gardens, mentioned even in Ottoman poetry and depicted in Miniatures where several intoxicated male figures lie carelessly under the trees, some probably engaging in amorous acts.

To Highly Elite Tables

In the latter half of the 19th century, a new significance began to be attributed to wine within the Istanbul elite. The European lifestyle became a source of inspiration among the Ottoman elites and culinary habits were also due to change. New table manners along with a new style of eating called “alafranga” gradually became popular both within the palace and among the elites in Europeanized looking districts of the capital. Of course, in order to lead a full “alafranga” lifestyle, wine and other Western drinks had to be on the scene, so drinking wine also became “modernized” in the Western manners. Wine, along with the newly introduced beverage champagne, emerged as symbols of an elegant, modern European lifestyle exemplified in the restaurants and hotels that proliferated in the Péra district of Istanbul, and also in the Dolmabahçe Palace. There is much written evidence from manuals on good manners and etiquette, articles published in women’s magazines and even certain cookbooks written in Ottoman Turkish, showcasing that wine had become an essential part of elite tables in the last decades of the 19th century.

The Legacy of Marcel Biron

While Özge Samancı tackled the last decades of the Ottoman Empire, Ece Cankat brought into attention the early years of the Turkish Republic when viticulture was seriously encouraged. Her presentation was titled “The French Oenologist's Impression on Turkish Wine Culture: Unveiling Marcel Biron’s Impact and Legacy,” focusing on foreign viticulture specialists invited to Türkiye as early as 1920s. As a country emerging from the war, Türkiye faced numerous challenges and restrictions regarding politics and the economy, which had negative impacts on viticulture. Nonetheless, the Turkish governments’ decisions indicate the intention to develop the country’s vineyards while investing in grape and wine production, as there has been a comprehensive development process throughout the country. Introducing foreign oenologists in the 1930s was a significant step for the country’s wine culture and viticulture. Particularly, foreign experts were invited to the country to enhance the existing vineyards and viticulture. The local grapes were investigated to understand their suitability for wine production while simultaneously adapting foreign grape varieties, especially European grape varieties. The French oenologist Marcel Biron was one of the foreign specialists who perhaps had the most impact, with his research in viticulture and winemaking still holding a significant place in Turkish wine production.

Beyond the Bottle

Finally, my presentation was totally beyond the bottle, looking at the edible angle of the vineyards. The culinary aspect of vineyards is little known. Grapes are not only meant to make wine or distilled drinks, but also provided food for the table. In Türkiye, the majority of grapes are either consumed as fresh fruit, or dried such as Sultana raisins, or turned into “pekmez” grape molasses. There are also several other sweet delights, fruit leathers and sweetmeats like “cevizli sucuk” (threaded walnuts encased in grape juice jelly), and sweet morsels of gelled grape juice which are predecessors of Turkish Delight. But vineyards are not all about sweetness, unripe grapes provide sourness, in the form of verjuice, “koruk ekşisi” in Turkish, or unripe bunches just added to dishes to give tartness. But above all, Turkish cookery cannot be without vine leaves, they are used in countless ways, most famed being the hot and cold versions of “dolma” and “sarma,” stuffed and wrapped vine leaves, but vine leaves are also used as edible greens in a great variety of dishes. The whole range of foods from a vineyard is extensive and varied, from sweets to pickles to hot or cold dishes, or from savory to sweet. That aspect of using the vine leaves seems to be confined only to Türkiye and countries of former Ottoman Empire territory, interestingly no French vine leaf goes into a pot, hence this was new to many in the audience.