Smuggled wine and some terrible stuff!
Our Ephesus lunch involved pouring some (good) wine from a local winery into an empty coca-cola bottle (not optimum I know!), packing a small picnic of local cheeses and bread and finding a secluded spot in the shade. The terrible wine had thankfully already been dealt with.
At ancient sites like Ephesus, I always find myself imagining what it would have been like to have been living and working when such places were at their height many centuries ago and the millions of footsteps that have passed over where I now sit. Wine certainly helps my imagination.
The wine tasting experience in Sirince is a little different
On our tours, clients would visit Ephesus in the morning while it’s not too hot and then enjoy a wine tour and tasting during the afternoon. Having made our recce trip, we think something else could be added to make the day even nicer.
The village of Sirince (pronounced Shirinje) is a real treat to wander around for an hour or so. The buildings are quaint and if you wander a little off the beaten track you see local people doing what they do, as you can see in the video below:
Wine tasting in Sirince is a bit of an experience. It was fun but were glad we were visiting a “proper” winery later in the day as some of the beverages we tried had an “interesting” taste to say the least. As you walk around you will be offered free wine tasting, the vendors know you will probably buy something out of guilt so that is their payoff.
The photos below show a typical setup; an old traditional building, a dusty cellar area, and a huge range of fruit, sweet and dry wines on offer. As you can see the guy put 13 samples on a thin wooden plank and we could try them all. Some were particularly bad (IMHO), some were OK if you were already drunk, and some were decent.
As Malka always says “it’s about training your palate” but there is a limit I thought as I was pulling a pained face. We bought Ataturk’s favorite, almost certainly not true but we liked the story. The wine was a pretty bad, semi-sweet blend of who knows what. Malka took it as a training exercise, Karina REALLY didn’t like it and refused at the first fence, I persisted as I had paid for the bloody stuff.
Later in the day we visited the Lucien Arkas winery and enjoyed some great quality wine and a swish experience. The contrast between the two tastings couldn’t be wider but both are great experiences and visits to remember.
Sipping Marselan at Ephesus takes the prize for the day though. What a place!
