Şirince Village Wines

This charming hillside village above Ephesus was traditionally Greek (Kirkinca) until population exchanges in 1923. Today it's famous for fruit wines and increasingly for serious grape wines. The stone houses, olive groves, and family wine shops preserve Anatolian Greek character.

What to do there

3 things to do

1. 1 Taste the Wine That Shouldn't Exist Wine · Free

   Fruit wine made by Greek refugees in an Ottoman village - a story in every sip

   Şirince (formerly Kirkinca) was a Greek village until the 1923 population exchange - when all Greeks in Turkey were sent to Greece and all Muslims in Greece came here. The Greek settlers who left had made fruit wine for generations: peach, pomegranate, blackberry, orange, quince, apricot. The tradition survived them. The families who moved in kept making it. Today you can taste fruit wine handed down across an ethnic rupture, connecting Anatolian Greek and Turkish traditions in a single glass. Enter the first wine cellar you see in Şirince village centre (arrive via dolmuş from Selçuk otogar every 30 minutes, 5 Turkish Lira) - they ALL offer FREE tastings. Ask to taste the pomegranate AND the peach side by side, then ask the shop owner: 'How long has your family been making this?' The answer will surprise you.

   Backup: St. John the Baptist Church in the village centre has wine tasting available INSIDE the church - a surreal experience of sacred space repurposed for fruit wine commerce.

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2. 2 Find the Greek House That Survived 1923 History · Free

   The village's stone houses tell the story of a violent cultural handover

   The 1923 Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations was one of the largest forced relocations in history - 1.5 million Greeks expelled from Turkey, 500,000 Muslims expelled from Greece. The Greeks of Şirince (Kirkinca) had been here for generations, growing peach orchards, making fruit wine, living in stone houses. They were given days to leave. What you see walking through the upper streets of Şirince village are THEIR houses, still standing, many perfectly preserved, now owned by Turkish families who arrived from Greek Macedonia. Walk uphill past the market into the residential streets and find a house with carved stone window frames or a carved lintel above the door - Greek architectural details. Notice the vineyard terraces on the hillsides above. The same peach orchards the Greeks planted are STILL producing the fruit for the wine you just tasted.

   Backup: The village is at 400m elevation - from the upper streets on a clear day you can see the Ephesus plain and the Aegean coast.

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3. 3 Sample Your Way Through Six Flavors in One Cellar Adventure · Price: low · Optional

   This is one tasting flight you've never done before

   Şirince's fruit wine menu is not a wine list - it's a botanical catalogue. Kiwi, black mulberry, melon, strawberry, banana, peach, apple - all fermented and bottled in small family operations. These wines are not trying to be Burgundy. They are the direct descendants of ancient Anatolian fruit fermentation traditions that predate grape wine dominance. Choose any wine house in the main village strip (look for ones with barrels visible in the doorway) and taste six different fruit wines in order from lightest (apple, melon) to darkest (blackberry, pomegranate). Ask the shop owner to suggest the order. Buy one bottle of the best one - most cost under €5.

   Backup: If you want to eat first, the village has several small restaurants serving traditional gözleme (stuffed flatbread, €3-5) and fresh olive oil dishes.

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Insider tips

• The fruit wines are tourist fare

• Ask for grape wines at better shops

• The village atmosphere is charming

• Combine with Ephesus visit