Ch Kalpak’s journey began in 1991. After 21 years of living in the US and Paris, I returned to Turkey and experienced a dramatic change in life philosophy: I left investment banking to establish a vineyard and a winery. I acquired the initial parcels in the beginning of 1992 and established a trial vineyard in the village of Arapli in Şarköy (Tekirdağ). There we experimented with various clones, planting techniques, trellis/pruning systems, and wine making.

The experiences we gained in Arapli and the knowledge gained through travelling to over 100 wineries around the world we applied in the establishment of the Ch Kalpak Vineyards. In 2003 we finally openend up Ch Kalpak. This whole process took us about 12 years. We made our first wines in the brand new winery in 2010 and patiently waited until the maturity of these wines which we released in 2013.