Recipe
Kalecikkarası grape, unique to Ankara, is an important red wine grape variety of our country with its superior performance in local conditions, grown within the borders of Kalecik district of Ankara province of the Kızılırmak Valley. The reasons for this are the microclimate created by crossing Kızılırmak River, and the red soils rich in marine fossils. The sapling of this plant starts to give product in 3 years’ time. A decare of land produces an average of 1 ton grapes and 1 kilogram of grapes is enough to produce 1 bottle of wine. Soil of the province are mainly brown or red-brown soil. The special ingredient of Kalecikkarası is due to this soil containing large amount of calcium. These kinds of soils are formed in the regions showing special climate characteristics. When Kalecikkarası grape saplings are taken to the other geographic regions, they lose their characteristics. In other words, the Kalecikkarası wine can only be made from grapes grown in Kalecik province. Thanks to the grape festival held in 2019, the importance of the grape called Kalecikkarası was once again recognized. The history of the grape goes back to ancient times according to the remains found in excavations. It is known that there was an intense wine production in Kalecik, where a predominantly Armenian population lived before the Republic Period. Shortly after the proclamation of the Republic, the Tekel administration established a wine factory in the district. Grape production, which disappeared in the 60s and 70s for various reasons, was revived with a project initiated by Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture. Wine production that started again in 1989 was given geographical indication in 2006.