Our Story

THE REGION OF ÇAL

Our region, known in antiquity as Mossyna and later named Çal in the 18th century, lies on a plateau in western Turkey at an altitude of 850 metres. With the Büyük Menderes River flowing nearby, named after the Greek river god Meandros, its terroir is defined by distinctive clay-loam and calcareous soils. While there are several accounts of the name’s origin, it is most widely believed to derive from the region’s geographical features. In Chagatai Turkish, Çal means "high place"; the word is also associated with meanings such as stony place, bare hill, and calcareous soil. Viticulture has shaped the region for centuries, perhaps even millennia. 

According to mythology, Dionysus, the god of wine, once lived in Nysa, known today as Sultanhisar in Turkey. One day he picked grapes from the vines climbing the walls of his cave, pressed their juice, and so discovered wine. To celebrate this discovery, he founded the city of Dionysopolis in Çal. He is said to have encouraged the development of viticulture in Çal and the surrounding region. It was also believed that the finest grapes in the area were grown above the Büyük Menderes River, in Baklan, Bekilli, Çal, and Güney. This then, is the mythological story of Dionysus, who carried the vine beyond these lands, spread the culture of wine with distant places, and gave his name to the city he founded in Çal.

Archaeologist and historian Celal Şimşek offers the following interpretation of this story: “Ancient people did not create this mythology in vain. The region’s beautiful grapes and wines brought them considerable wealth, and they believed this prosperity was granted with the help of Dionysus, the god of wine. For this reason, the history of viticulture and winemaking in the region extends back thousands of years. In antiquity, the vineyards and the wines produced here formed an important part of the regional export economy.

Surrounded by ancient cities such as Hieropolis, Laodicea, Aphrodisias, Sagalossos, and Tripolis, this landscape remains rich in archeological heritage. It still holds many undiscovered traces of the past and has retained its historical and geographical importance over the centuries.

As a family from Çal, our purpose in establishing Kuzubağ has always been to make better wine with each passing year and to pursue the highest standards of quality. Being from this region, it was deeply important to us to make this investment in our own village and to give something back to the land that has given so much to us.