The Minoans made wine here in the 20th century B.C.,” said Ergin Ince, the guide that one of my hotels, Six Senses Kaplankaya, had secured for me for a tour of the ancient cities of Priene, Melitus, and Didyma. “But they mixed it with honey and water because it was sour.”
I had arrived at the resort after several days of exploring Turkey’s Aegean coast, where I had seen many vase-shaped clay vessels used by the Minoans to carry wine on display at archaeological museums. I can attest that plenty of wine is still made in the area — more than half of the country’s wine, in fact — and it’s far better than it must have been 4,000 years ago.
I had planned to explore the region around the port city of Izmir, then…
