What You Need to Know About Wine Tasting Before You Go

If you’re planning to visit a touristic winery, make sure to gather information in advance about their daily and weekly programs. Find out when tours and guided tastings take place. Ask about the restaurant details if there is one, and request their menu. (Some provide this information on their websites, but they are in the minority.) Also, if you go during high season, know that you will be doing everything together with crowds.

Local Producers You Can Visit in Turkey

By the way, winery tours usually start in the vineyard. They briefly explain how the vines are cared for and what processes are involved. Then, following the journey of grapes turning into wine, you move to the winery, where presses and steel tanks used for fermentation are shown. The tour ends with the bottling line and, if the producer ages their wines in oak barrels, a visit to the cellar. To be honest, after touring three or four different wineries, you don’t need more, because the same things are shown everywhere. However, wineries that produce using different techniques—such as clay amphorae or glass vessels—or those with distinctive architecture are always worth visiting. These go beyond the standard experience.

For example, Gelveri in Güzelyurt near Cappadocia is a unique producer making natural wine in clay amphorae. Vasbos, the new winery of Assos, stands out with its architecture and its use of barrels, clay amphorae, and glass spheres in production.

7 Bilgeler in Selçuk, with its carefully composed architecture blending different styles, is like an oasis in the desert. Producers such as Chateau Kalpak and Porta Caeli are worth seeing for the artworks displayed in their vineyards and cellars. The “History of Viticulture Museum” created by Murat Yankı of Asmadan is another original initiative. Some producers are also visited for their exceptional wines. Since I have a special appreciation for local grape varieties, Likya, with its explorations in this field, is one of the first that comes to mind. Likewise, we shouldn’t forget producers like Paşaeli and Heraki, who create unique wines from local grapes.

At this point, some of the producers I mentioned can only be visited by appointment. In these places, you experience the exact opposite of tourist wineries. These producers, located in regions without other branches of tourism, are usually visited by enthusiasts. The distinction I make between touristic and non-touristic producers applies both domestically and internationally. There isn’t much difference. However, wineries abroad are more established in terms of wine tourism. They offer a wide range of options and are well-organized. When communicating with foreign wineries, email will be your greatest ally. Anyway, let’s return to what you should pay attention to when visiting non-touristic wineries.

What Should You Pay Attention to Before Visiting a Winery?

You must make an appointment with these types of wineries and clearly state what you want. Because the tour will be tailored specifically for you. It is not a group activity. For example, if you want detailed information about viticulture, you can request a focus on that and skip the winery tour. Then comes the tasting. You can also determine the wines to be tasted in advance. For instance, you can taste different expressions of the same grape—bottled and barrel-aged—or design thematic tastings tailored to your interests. In non-touristic wineries, the person who made the wine or the family behind it usually hosts you. Unlike tourist wineries, there is no dedicated staff for these roles. In these small and charming family businesses, you have the chance to see the passion in the eyes of the winemaker. Their excitement becomes contagious. The shared interaction creates a halo of joy around the growing love for wine.

If you consider yourself an amateur wine taster, I strongly recommend taking notes while tasting. Writing is essential for learning, internalizing, and forming synaptic connections between new knowledge and existing ideas. When you write, you inevitably think about what you’re writing, challenge your mind, and analyze it. So, write about what you want to learn. In short, take tasting notes.

How to Take Tasting Notes

Here, I won’t explain how to take technical tasting notes, but rather what to pay attention to when taking notes for yourself. First, start by writing down objective information about the wine. Let’s take a hypothetical wine produced in Urla:

“This white wine, produced in the winery in Urla using Sauvignon Blanc grapes sourced from Denizli, is from the 2026 vintage. Its alcohol level is 14.2%. It has also been aged for six months in new French oak barrels used for the first time.”

You can learn some of these details from the wine label, but the best way is to ask the person presenting the wine during tasting.

After this, you can move on to personal evaluations:

“When I smell the wine, I detect citrus notes like lime and grapefruit, along with tropical aromas such as pineapple. There is also a hint of oak. When I take a sip, it feels strong—intense, with a certain weight on my palate, which I like. The aromas I perceived on the nose are also present on the palate, quite powerfully. It feels as if I’m biting into those fruits. However, I don’t enjoy the dominance of fruit aromas this much. After a second sip, I notice that it makes my mouth water significantly, almost like eating lemon. It gives a pleasant freshness. The flavor lingers on my palate for a long time—it’s not fleeting. It seems to say, ‘I was here.’”

You don’t need to be a wine expert to take such notes. You simply need to think about what you’re drinking and understand how it makes you feel. Also, remember that you are not writing a technical tasting note but a personal evaluation. Someone else might describe the same wine as “light” instead of “intense and weighty.” This shows that reference points differ—and both are valid. Or rather, we can say both are reasonable.

Similarly, one person might dislike the dominant fruit aromas, while another might say, “This is exactly what I’m looking for—the fruit flavors are so intense and powerful that I feel like I can absorb them.” This reflects differences in personal taste. These judgments are independent of whether a wine is objectively good or bad; they are based on individual preferences. Subjectivity always dominates in food and drink.

As you can see, the same wine can generate different tasting notes. The most important thing when taking personal notes is consistency within your own references. If a wine makes your mouth “very” watery, and another makes it even more so, you should express that difference clearly. Your personal jargon and reference points will develop over time.

You are taking notes for yourself, not for others. The goal is to reflect your preferences accurately so that your collection of notes becomes useful. Over time, when you review your notes, you will notice patterns—these patterns reflect your taste. For example, you might realize that you haven’t liked any Sauvignon Blanc wines because they make your mouth water too much. Then, when ordering wine, you can say, “I’d prefer something that doesn’t make my mouth water too much, so not Sauvignon Blanc or similar grapes.”

Or, you may notice that you enjoy wines with strong, bursting fruit aromas. In that case, you can describe your preference as wines with “pronounced fruitiness” and “lower acidity.” As you refine your notes, your descriptions become more precise.

However, I should emphasize that I simplified these scenarios. It’s unlikely that someone would dislike all wines made from a single grape, as different styles exist. For example, an unoaked Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand differs significantly from an oak-aged one from France. Similarly, Chardonnay varies greatly depending on production style.

There are many variables. For instance, you might not enjoy light red wines in winter, but they can be perfect in summer when served chilled.

Concepts You Can Use in Tasting Notes

Finally, here are some key concepts:

Body: The weight or intensity of the wine on the palate. Classified as light, medium, or full-bodied.

Acidity: How much the wine makes your mouth water and how refreshing it is. It forms the backbone of the wine.

Aromatic Intensity: The strength of aromas such as fruit, floral, or spice. Can be subtle, medium, or pronounced.

Tannin: The compound that gives dryness and astringency, mostly in red wines. Can be described as soft, velvety, or harsh.

Instead of saying “It felt intense and heavy,” you could say “full-bodied.” Or instead of “I felt like biting into fruit,” you could say “aromatically rich and fruity.” “It made my mouth water” could be described as “high acidity.”

But don’t get too caught up in terminology—what matters most is expressing what you feel in your own words. Even if you can’t write detailed notes, jot down a few key impressions. You can use apps like Vivino or simply write in a notebook. And if you share your notes with the person guiding you, the experience becomes even richer.

After all, the best part of wine is traveling, seeing, tasting, and sharing conversations.

The Rising Natural Wine Movement

Four Countries, Seven Producers, and the 2025 Harvest

Michelin Winds Blow in Urla: Hus Wines

An Interview with Mustafa Çamlıca about His Award-Winning Wines