Turkey

Turkey, eastern Mediterranean country with the fifth largest vineyard area in the world (517,000 ha/1,277,500 acres in 2012) where only 3% of the produce is destined for wine. Most grapes are eaten fresh, used for drying, molasses, and the popular aniseed-flavoured spirit rakı, produced in nearly equal volumes to wine. Of the 552,000 hl/14.6 million gal of wine produced, less than 5% was exported in 2012. Despite the crackdown on alcohol consumption by the long-serving, Islamist-leaning government, the early 21st century saw a marked increase in wine quality and interest in Turkey’s rich heritage of indigenous varieties .