A natural part of what we do is to follow the wine world of our country, to find and reach producer friends that we have not yet reached, and to get to know their wines. You know that we do not see WAYANA as just a wine house where we serve wine. Our mission is to introduce the widest variety of wines made from grapes produced in our lands to wine lovers by including the samples we have compiled from the most of our producers.
Maybe some of you are unaware, at WAYANA we occasionally host special tastings for guest groups. We do not contribute to the wine selection and description in these tastings, we only provide the service. We were honestly surprised when we came across a new producer and grape during such a tasting, and of course we were angry at ourselves for not noticing it before. The grape we came across was named PANIK and the producer's name was NEFERİYE.
Fortunately, after a short search, we found Neferiye's contact information and called them. We found a wine enthusiast on the other end of the phone who shared the same excitement as ours: Çağlar Bozçağa. With a not-too-short phone call, we had Çağlar's years-long story flow before our eyes as a fast-playing film strip. We couldn't do it without sharing the highlights of this conversation with you.
Neferiye is the name given to the grapes of the second harvest, which remain on the vines after the first harvest from the vineyard, continue to grow and ripen, in a sense, they are the last grapes that remain in the vineyard and act as guards. Since Çağlar aspired to be the guardian of ancient grape varieties, the brand choice suited him and pleased Çağlar.
There are two grape varieties Neferiye is processing: PANIK and KANLI KARA. As he shared with us in his short note, the vines on which these grapes grow survive surrounded by oak and pine trees in the 900-meter-high mountain villages of Bodrum. In summer, the day is hot and the evening is cool; the winter season is quite harsh, snowy and icy. Grapes are harvested from these vines, which have 'old vine' status and are between 80 and 120 years old. There is no controlled viticulture practice for these vines; There is no pruning or irrigation.
In the WAYANA Wine Menu, we serve Neferiye's rosé wine made from Panık grapes and red wine made from Kanlı Kara grapes. Both wines are processed using a natural wine approach. No commercial yeast is used, and there is no use of fertilizer in the wild nature environment where grapes grow. In fact, Neferiye is determined to bring us the grapes that nature has gifted us and they are determinedly walking on this path.We greet Neferiye and Çağlar with respect. We share with him the excitement and joy we feel for taking part in bringing his wines to wine lovers of Istanbul.
