Interview: Ayça Olcaytu İşçen
April 2007

As well as being famous for its nature and history, Cappadocia is also well known for its wine made out of the precious grapes grow in its “fertile” soil. The local wines which are recognised by both local and foreign visitors are introduced by cultural tours. Murat Özgüç, who is one of the owners of Travel Atelier, and organises these tours in cooperation with Vinotolia, is our magazine’s guest.

Peribacası Magazine: Where did the idea of organising culture tours with a wine theme come from?
Murat Özgüç: As a Travel Atelier, contributing positively to Cappadocia’s advertisement and tourism facilities is one of our missions. We believe that tourism in this region should be spread over 12 months with various alternatives. From this point of view, it wasn’t hard to make the wine, which is a gift of nature and manufactured in Cappadocia the center of our culture tours. Looking at countries like France, Spain, Italy, Portuguese, we see that there is a great interest in vineyard visits and wine tasting. Learning about grapes and their estates, wine tasting and having delicious meals have priority in these activities. It was obvious that a similar programme would attract attention here. We developed a programme with Vinotolia which belongs to Murat Yankı who knows the types of grapes and wines in Turkey and is interested in wine culture in an academical way.
Peribacası M.: How many days do these tours last?
Murat Ö.: They are organised over different time periods. For example; we have a 14 day programme that covers all the regions in Turkey that produce grapes for wine making. It specifically includes only the vineyards, the wine production centers, factories, wine tasting and cooking. Historic places are also being visited but they never come before the wine and the meal. We also have tours that last for 2-3 days and only include the Capadocia area.
Peribacası M.: What does the 14 day tour cover? 
Murat Ö.: These tours include different programs and places. I can tell you shortly about one of our tours that begins with cooking experience in İstanbul. With the participants we visit bazaars, buy ingredients and cook meals and deserts that are special to Turkish cuisine such as tarhana soup, ‘tavuk göğsü’ a pudding made of rice flour and very finely shredded chicken. During the cooking we have wine tasting intervals. After visiting some historical places in İstanbul, we arrive to Ankara and visit the Anatolian Civilizations’ Museum. Here, you can view artefacts relating to the Hittities and wine. A visit to the Kavaklıdere wine plantation in Akyurt is followed by wine tasting in Kalecik Village. Next stop is Çorum-Hattuşaş which was the capital of Hittites. After visiting the Hittite Gods in Yazılıkaya, the oldest open-air temple in the world, we leave for Cappadocia. At this point Kavaklıdere, Kocabağ, and Turasan wines and Dimrit and Emir grapes take the utmost importance. We visit the historical places as there are many things relating to wines and grapes to see in Cappadocia from churches and underground city life, to the wine cellars in houses. Of course, meanwhile eating in the local restaurants and the wine tasting goes on.
Peribacası M.: The part of the programme that takes place in Cappadocia includes a seminar, doesn’t it?
Murat Ö.: Yes. Murat Yankı gives a seminar about wine that lasts for 90 minutes with visual materials. Participants’ questions are replied to. On the last day of the tour dining and wine tasting takes place again. After food shopping we go to a tandır kitchen for cooking. Specialities of Turkish cuisine such as tandır soup, beans with meat, testi kebap, aside dessert and Turkish tea are all included in this cookery course. The main reason for including testi kebap in the menu is to emphasise the production of earthenware jugs, pots and bowls in Cappadocia. It’s a most important heritage to us. Pottery and the culture of wine, preserves its importance since the Hittites.
Peribacası M.: In what kind of hotels do the participants accommodate?
Murat Ö.: Outstanding hotels are preferred. We use the region’s boutique hotels. We don’t present a multi-star hotels option to foreigners who visit Cappadocia; but to Turkish groups who ask for economical programs.
Peribacası M.: Do you have a programme during the Ürgüp vintage festival?
Murat Ö.: Of course, every year we have an activity in the festival organised by the Ürgüp Municipality. At the last festival we had a program on behalf of the Cappadocia Rotary Club. We found a beautiful vineyard with delicious grapes in front of the fairy chimneys. There is no vineyard in the world like this! There were 85 participants and everybody carried their own baskets and grapes.

For further information: www.propertravel.com, www.travelatelier.com, www.vinotolia.com
Tel: +90 (384) 341 65 20

Y. Murat Özgüç: Born in 1966 in Alanya. Graduated from Akdeniz University, Vocational High School, Tourism Business Administration in 1985.  Between 1985 and 1993 he worked as a manager in the sales and marketing departments of many hotels in the Mediterranean Region and abroad. After working as a manager in an international yacht charter firm in the Eagean coast between 1993-1995, he became the general manager in some boutique hotels in Kalkan and had partnership of a travel agency in 1995 till 2000. He moved to Cappadocia because of his consultant duty in a private Project. He took a management duty with his wife Pınar Soyata Özgüç in a hot air balloon firm which was the first in the region. Since 1998 he has been working as a representative for Turkey and Greece for an international deluxe hotel recommendation book, Conde Nast Johansens Recommended Hotels&Spas Europe&The Mediterranean. In 2004 he established Propertravel Travel Consultancy firm and at the beginning of 2006 Murat and Pınar established their boutique travel agency Travel Atelier.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, April 2007 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com