In this tour we explore one of the oldest wine regions of the world. It is Cappadocia where wine production started more than 4ooo years ago. We make a deep introduction into the history of the region through its wines and its flavors. We taste forgotten meals prepared according the old recipes of Cappadocia and with more than 20 wines we taste we smell Cappadocia and whole Anatolia. We visit Goreme open air museum, Derinkuyu underground city, we hike in Kızılçukur and some other little known sites of Cappadocia.

DAY 1 : TURASAN WINES
Turasan is the oldest wine producer in Cappadocia established 1943. The company now runned by Hasan Turasan of the 3rd generation has put its seal on great successes since 2008. Their wines have been awarded with gold medals in Turkey and 3 of them have received silver medals in World Competition of Wine organized in Brussels fort he first time in the history of wine making in Turkey.
In this tour we first do a short morning walk through the rock formations of Cappadocia. We then proceed to Turasan’s Zeynep Vineyards founded in 2001 to grow international and autochtonous grape varieties of Turkey.
We visit vineyards and we get information about the growing process. We then go to Turasan Winery to see its rock carved wine cellar and to be informed about the process of wine making. We taste some of Turasan wines.
We then go to discover the beautiful rock carved churches in Goreme Valley.
For lunch we proceed to Aravan Village where we taste some of Cappadocian Specialties in a family runned small restaurant.

In the afternoon we visit the old Greek Village of Sinasos presently known as Mustafapaşa where we can see great examples of stone workmanship on the façades of houses built in 19th century .
We then proceed to the underground city of Kaymaklı where we finish our day.
The day ends with a seminar on the history of wine by Murat Yankı, wine teacher and searcher on wine history.

Dinner takes place in a local restaurant.

DAY 2 : WINES OF ACROSS RED RIVER - KOCABAG WINES

In this tour we discover Cappadocia with the wines produced by Kocabag Winery starting with a pleasant walking in Red Valley, we visit the Church with Grapes carved in a fairy chimney.

Our day starts with a very pleasant walking in Kızılçukur, through old traditional vineyards. This trekking will help us enjoy the amazing natural landscape of Cappadocia and very beautifully decorated rock-carved dovecotes of the region.
On our way we will also visit the Church with Grapes which gives us a very good idea about the history of wine in Cappadocia. Our walking will end in one of the little known villages: Çavuşin. We discover the village and have lunch on a vineyard or in a typical restaurant.

In the afternoon we follow the banks of Red River (Kızılırmak) to reach Avanos and stroll in its streets. Avanos is also considered as a city of art with its traditional pottery which puts the city in a special position for carrying wines in Hittite times in clay pot jars until the capital of Hittite Kingdom, Hattusas.
We proceed to Zelve and Paşabağ where the most amazing formations of fairy chimneys can be seesn
We then go to Uchisar ares to visit old wine cellar of Kocabag winery carved in volcanic tuff. Our final tasting takes place in a wine cellar in Uchisar.
Wines to taste:
Diner is served in our cave/boutique hotel.

DAY 3 : COOKING CLASS - MARKETS OF CAPPADOCIA

In the morning we go to one of the local markets of Cappadocia (a weekly market is held almost everyday in one of the neighboorhoods of Cappadocia) for buying the necessary material for our cooking class. We stroll in the market to see local products brought from nearby villages.
Our cooking activity is supervised by an experimented cook speaking English,Japanese and Italian.
Our menu will consist of a local soup (e.g tarhana soup or smoked bulgur soup), a pastry made with cheese or pastirmas (pastrami) a vegetable/ meat dish as main course and a typical dessert of the region
After the first session we make a short break on our panoramic terrasse we taste white wines of Cappadocia produced with local ‘Emir’ grape.
We then continue the cooking session at the end of which we eat our own product.
In the afternoon we discover the historical and geological treasures of Cappadocia by making a walk in White Valley also known as Love Valley


DAY 4: CAPPADOCIAN LIFE, HALF DAY

We join to the life of Cappadocians by stopping in local coffee houses, strolling on our own in the typical villages and helping them in in some works in order to share their life.

The breakfast is taken in a Cappadocian house with family members. We then join their life by  going to the field, by collecting one of the agricultural crops or by making tomato paste or home made pasta.

The lunch is also the same as they eat in their daily life. Afternoon at leisure.

*According to the schedule demonstration of pottery making and lecture on Turkish hand made rugs will be part of our activity. These two arts have a history of more than 400 years in Cappadocia.