WINE IN TURKEY
Wine production and drinking has not showed a regular progress in Turkey . Although the progress' intensity varied significantly over the years, recently this has displayed a more regular and impressive results.
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Turkey 's mild climate and fertile land makes it ideal for viniculture and the following wine production. This has attracted foreign investors, such as part of the consortium which bought Tekel, and other foreign investors (i.e. French) who started to buy land and set up their own wineries. In other cases some foreign wine companies interested in the regional varieties are buying either the grapes or the land as in the case of Okuzgozu and Bogazkere.
Although some of the wineries are owned by the government and administered by an institution called Tekel there are also some other wineries, albeit middle sized and low in production capacity, which are privately owned. In total, there are currently 44 registered wineries (companies) in Turkey . Recently Tekel was sold to a venture capital partnership (Nurol, Limak, Ozaltin, Tutsab) who were the highest bidders with USD $292 million (November 2003), and transferred to the group in February 2004. Opposition to the sale argued that it was wrong to sell an institution which proved to be profitable to the government in the long run. Furthermore, it was argued that it was undersold.
Before the above mentioned privatization Tekel was responsible for pricing the grape crop and determining the potential buyer. The question now asked by some interested parties is 'how will the lower varieties of grapes be prized and marketed without Tekel 's control'. Although it is possible that a number of vineyard owners will be affected negatively by this situation in the short term, in the long term it will force them to cultivate new grape varieties and attempt to achieve an overall better quality. The feasibility of this development will depend on the extent of a governmental support in the form of low interest, long term loans and availability of new methods and inputs for the vineyard owners.
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