7 Bilgeler (7 Sages)

If your visiting Ephesus and want to add a visit to one of Turkey's best winemakers' winery, this is your choice.

Located just a 15 min. drive from ancient Ephesus slightly up in the hills and right next door to the intriguing train museum you will find the 7 Bilgeler winery.

The winery includes an excellent restaurant and the Vinifera Hotel for those looking for a quiet, relaxing place to stay.

The owner Mr. Bilge Yamen has created a delightful winery, capitalizing on key relationships with European vintners. From the choice of Malbec, CS, Merlot (planted at the vineyard) and Shiraz (planted 7 km away) based on the climate consultation of the oenologist, Jean Luc Colin, and soil analysis by the LCA laboratory, to the architectural design of the winery by Austrian, Xavier Bindl. The 7 Bilgeler winery is an excellent location.

Other notable aspects of this winery include the gravity-fed wine production, a 120,000 bottle production capacity (currently producing 40,000 bottles/year), French oak barrels and local, Turkish produced steel fermenters.

This winery stands out to me for its wide and pleasant selection of red wines made from the above mentioned grapes.

A few of the "Sages" of wines from here to look out for are the Pythagoras Blend, Bias Priene, Khilon, and Solon Attica Series with with Merlot, Shiraz and Cab. Franc varietals. Mr. Yamen has a clear idea of what he is trying to achieve and I highly recommend the 7 Bilgeler winery and wines.

I've rated a number of 7 Bilgeler wines on Vivino see here.

Also the Ciy restaurant is well worth a visit as they always have a unique expression of international cuisine that supports the excellent wines.

I recommend coming for an early dinner in the summer months and enjoying the sunset or an evening inside - as the surroundings are impressive.