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Corks, Culture & Kebabs: Sip Happens in Turkey

5 days

Easy

Join us in Turkey for a week of swirling, sipping, and slightly staggering through vineyards and bars cooler than your nan’s fridge from unpronounceable Boğazkere to world-famous Shiraz.
  • Swirling, sipping & slightly staggering – counting steps is way more fun when the pedometer thinks you’re dancing.
  • Tasting wines you can’t pronounce – Boğazkere, Öküzgözü and Narince will roll off your tongue...eventually after the third glass.
  • Vineyards not treadmills – who needs the gym when you can tone your arms lifting wine glasses and stretch your vocabulary trying to say “cheers” in Turkish?
  • Drinking with locals – these legends have been making wine since before corks existed, and yes, they’ll definitely outdrink you.
  • Trying to look classy while holding a kebab at 2 a.m. – elegance is temporary, shawarma is forever.
  • Making friends you’ll text “let’s open a winery together” to at 3 a.m. – spoiler: you won’t but you’ll still reminisce about it every time you uncork a bottle.
  • Learning about Turkish grapes – and confidently pretending you remember the tasting notes when you get home (“Oh yes, subtle hints of...red?”).
  • Pretending you’re a sommelier while secretly judging by the label design – we all know you picked it because it had a cool fox on it.
  • Realising ‘spit buckets’ are for quitters – we’re not here to waste good wine, we’re here to research responsibly...
What's included?
    • Transportation: we love you too much to let you drive after tastings
    • Accommodation: beds and vineyard floors
    • Breakfasts: essential pre-wine lining
    • English-speaking local driver/guide: so you actually know what you’re drinking
    • Western Tipple Tours guide: professional wine drinker, semi-professional goat herder
    • All winery visits listed
    • Winery lunches & dinners: wine included – obviously
    Exclusions
      • Insurance: don’t get ideas, we checked: spilled wine is not covered
      • International flights: sadly, Tipple Tours doesn’t have our own airline…yet
      • Tips: wine bribery doesn’t count
      • Drinks outside inclusions: bars are on you, champ
      • Personal expenses: like emergency kebabs at 2 am
      • Everything else we forgot to mention because we were drinking wine when we wrote this list
      Please note
        • You will taste wine. Repeatedly. If you’re a “just one glass” kind of person, you’ll be saying “just one more” by day two.
        • We provide a driver. Someone has to remember where the hotel is.
        • It’s a wine tour, not a wellness retreat. The only detox here is when we run out of rosé.
        • Turkish wine means adventure. You’ll meet grapes with names you can’t pronounce and flavours you’ll never forget.
        • We visit real vineyards. Expect muddy boots, happy dogs and winemakers who pour with passion (and a heavy hand).
        • No wine snobbery allowed. Whether you taste “notes of cherry and oak” or just “yep, that’s wine,” you’re welcome here.
        • Kebabs will happen. Usually at the perfect moment, sometimes at questionable ones.
        • Your guide is a professional. At drinking wine, herding slightly giggly tourists and making it all look organised.
        • You might fall in love. With Turkey, the people or that one vineyard dog who follows you around like you’re its soulmate.
        • We can’t promise you’ll come back cultured. But you’ll definitely come back with great stories and slightly looser pronunciation.
        What to bring
          • Elasticated trousers – Turkish food portions don’t mess around and neither should your waistband.
          • A corkscrew-shaped sense of humour – it’ll come in handy when you try to pronounce “Öküzgözü.”
          • Comfy shoes – for strolling through vineyards, cobbled streets and your questionable life choices.
          • Sunglasses – part eye protection, part disguise when you “accidentally” buy a case of wine.
          • A reusable water bottle – hydration is classy and it helps you look responsible in photos.
          • A phone with plenty of storage – you’ll need room for 1,000 photos of wine glasses and one blurry selfie with a vineyard dog.
          • A hat – the sun is strong and your decision-making isn’t always.
          • An adventurous palate – you’ll be drinking wines that taste like everything from cherries to “huh, that’s oddly smoky.”
          • Some extra room in your suitcase – Turkish wine isn’t easy to find back home and resisting it is futile.
          • A phrasebook or translation app – mostly so you can say “just one more” in perfect Turkish.
          • Optional: your dignity – you probably won’t need it after day three but bring it just in case.