Karasakiz

The Story

Karasakız is the soul grape of Bozcaada (ancient Tenedos), a small Turkish Aegean island with at least 500 years of documented viticultural history with this single variety. The name means "black mastic" — the gum of the mastic tree, historically chewed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean — and the grape's aromatics carry a faint resinous, herbal quality that seems to channel that ancient flavor. Karasakız (also spelled Karasakiz, also called Kuntra locally) produces pale garnet wines with a striking aromatic profile: tart red cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, watermelon rind, thyme, sage, and cinnamon — a Turkish countryside in a glass. The style is reminiscent of old vine Zinfandel crossed with Grenache from the Southern Rhône: light to medium body, low tannins, fresh fruit, and a spicy herbal backbone. For centuries, Karasakız was Thrace's dominant grape, used primarily as distillery feedstock for the Çanakkale brandy factory (established 1957). When that factory closed in 2007, farmers switched to apples and nectarines, and Karasakız nearly disappeared — by 2016 only 4 hectares were formally recorded. The turnaround came from a new generation of Turkish fine wine producers — Paşaeli, Corvus, Suvla, and Arcadia Vineyards — who recognized the grape's unique character and began producing single-varietal wines from old head-pruned bush vines, some 70+ years old. The IWSC Foundation funded a formal conservation research project in 2023, and six respected Turkish wineries produced old vine Karasakız wines for the resulting tasting.

Insider Story

Karasakız's near-disappearance is a case study in how industrial demand shapes — and destroys — indigenous viticulture. The Çanakkale brandy factory actively encouraged Karasakız cultivation for decades because its high sugar content was ideal for distillation. When the factory closed in 2007, those same farmers who had been sustained by industrial demand were suddenly without a buyer, and the logical short-term response was to rip out vines and plant more profitable tree fruits. The wine industry was too small and too disorganized in 2007 Turkey to absorb the sudden surplus. What saved Karasakız was a handful of visionary winemakers — Paşaeli's founders chief among them — who saw the old head-pruned bush vines of Şarköy and Bayramiç as treasure rather than liability. Paşaeli's "6N" Karasakız (named for the soil type) became a reference point wine, described by critics as unlike anything from Turkey and surprisingly reminiscent of top Burgundy Pinot Noir in its delicacy and terroir transparency. The IWSC's formal research partnership with Heritage Vines of Turkey in 2023 elevated Karasakız to a global conservation talking point, alongside better-known old vine narratives from Priorat and the Douro.

Technical Deep Dive

Karasakız is traditionally trained as head-pruned bush vines (gobelet), which is critical to its expression: this training system severely limits yield, stresses the vine, and concentrates the characteristic spice and red fruit profile. The most valued old vine examples come from Bayramiç (inland Çanakkale) and the island of Bozcaada, where vines reaching 70+ years of age produce intensely flavored, concentrated fruit despite — or because of — the stressful conditions. Analytically, wines show 13.5–14% alcohol, low tannins, medium-minus acidity, and a long finish. The aromatic profile shows pale garnet color, with tart red cherry, watermelon rind, raspberry, pomegranate, stewed strawberry, thyme, sage, clove, and cinnamon on the nose; the palate delivers red fruits, dried fruit, walnut, chocolate, and spice notes. Winemaking approaches vary: Arcadia Vineyards uses hand-sorting with separate fermentation in stainless steel tanks; Paşaeli uses minimal-intervention approaches designed to preserve terroir transparency. The grape has historically not been considered suitable for aging, but newer old-vine examples from Thrace are demonstrating aging capability that challenges this assumption. One Wikipedia synonym: "Karakiz."

Industry Secrets

The 2023 IWSC Heritage Vines of Turkey research program was a watershed moment for Karasakız: for the first time, a credible international wine institution formally documented the danger and the quality potential of this variety. The research revealed that in 2016 only 4 hectares of Karasakız were formally registered — almost certainly an undercount of the actual old vine resource, as many unregistered head-pruned vineyards exist on Bozcaada and in the Bayramiç hills. Turkey's wine industry faces structural headwinds (political environment, religious demographics, high domestic taxes on wine), but the fine wine segment has grown consistently and Karasakız has become its calling card for international sommeliers seeking indigenous character. The six wineries who participated in the IWSC old vine tasting (2022 vintage) collectively represent the most important benchmark for this grape's quality ceiling — and the wines reportedly showed remarkable diversity of expression from the same variety grown in different Thracian villages.

More red grapes

• Karmrahyut
• Khndoghni
• Kokur
• Koshu
• Kotsifali