🗺️ Turkish wine

Turkish wine is the wine and grape growing of Türkiye. According to the OIV, in 2025 the country had about 395 thousand ha of vineyards – the sixth largest area in the world. Yet almost the entire harvest goes to table grapes and raisins: by a 2023 estimate, wine took only about 9 %, and some 77 thousand t of wine are produced a year.

The area under vines is shrinking: in 2024 the OIV put it at 402 thousand ha (fifth place) and noted a 20 % loss over ten years, while in the 1980s there were roughly twice as many vineyards. According to FAOSTAT, in 2024 Türkiye harvested 3,468,000 t of grapes from 372,285 ha. The country is the world's largest producer of raisins – 315 thousand t in 2024.

Grapes grow from Thrace and the Aegean coast to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Anatolia. Local varieties include the reds Öküzgözü, Boğazkere and Kalecik Karası and the whites Narince and Emir. Wine output was 76,927 t in 2023 and 73,592 t in 2022.

Türkiye has no system of wine appellations like the EU's. The patent office TÜRKPATENT registers geographical indications, and on 07.05.2025 a wine received one for the first time – “Avşa Ada Karası Şarabı” from the island of Avşa. Separately, “Kalecik Karası Üzümü” (2007), “Elazığ Öküzgözü Üzümü” (2009) and Boğazkere from Elazığ and Diyarbakır are protected as grapes.

Why it matters to you. On a Turkish label the variety name often matters more than the region: Öküzgözü and Boğazkere give red wines, Narince and Emir white ones. A geographical indication is still rare among wines – only “Avşa Ada Karası Şarabı” has one.