Bozcaada brings to mind four grape varieties, two of which are black grapes Kuntra and Karalahna and are known for their red wines; the other two are Vasilaki and Çavuş, who are also known for their white wines. But Chavush Grape (literal translation is Sergeant Grape) differs from the others with its identity: it is an excellent grape to eat and also a good wine grape as we are discovering and tasting Chavush White Wines for the past ten years.
In the wine menu of our wine house WAYANA Wine Bar in Kadıköy, Istanbul, we serve exclusive samples of all four grapes of Bozcaada. Moreover, we include varieties of each grape produced by more than one winery. In other words, it is enough to come to WAYANA to both get to know and compare.
Although Chavush Grape is identified with Bozcaada, it is not actually an endemic grape unique to Bozcaada. The grapes and seedlings brought from Taif near Mecca by a sergeant in the Ottoman army, had been presented to the sultan of the time, Ahmet, The 3rd. The Sultan liked the grapes very much and ordered it to be planted and multiplied. Even in 1720, this time the Chavush grape seedlings were presented to the King of France XV by the Sultan to be erected in the Parc de Versailles.
Chavush grape is an extremely high quality table grape. It is a grape so beautiful that you can't get enough of it with its unique smell, thin skin, low number of seeds, empty cores and large grains. According to some grape enthusiasts, it is the 'king of table grapes'.
It is very recently that producers from Bozcaada started to process Chavush grapes as wine. Producers, who started to try Chavush grape in wine in the 2000s, started to produce regularly after the wine was appreciated. We now see single variety wines made from Chavush grapes on the wine lists of Corvus and Talay, producers from Bozcaada.
Chavush wine has straw-yellow color. The wine is peach, apple and wildflower flavored; refreshing, soft and trailing samples that make you feel velvety soft. Of course, every winery and wine-maker has their own style.
We said that Çavuş grape is not an endemic grape belonging to Bozcaada. It is useful to know that there are examples known as Safranbolu Chavush, Round Chavush, Pink Chavush, identified with their regions in our country. But let's add it without forgetting: As a result of the application made in 2018, Bozcaada Chavush Grape was registered under the section of ‘Name of Origin’ by the Turkish Patent Institute.
For Bozcaada Sergeant Grape registration:
https://ci.turkpatent.gov.tr/cografi-isaretler/detay/38630
For the Bozcaada Sergeant Grape article by Mehmet Yalçın, one of the wine writers:
https://www.milliyet.com.tr/yazarlar/mehmet-yalcin/dunyanin-en-guzel-uzumu-1279205
For the Corvus Teneia tasting article by Andrea Lemieux:
