Planting a vineyard is an act of patience. Building a whole estate before you’ve made a single bottle of wine is something closer to faith.
Kuzubağ was founded in 2007 by Salih and Aslı Kuzu — father and daughter — when the family first planted vines in their hometown of Çal, in Denizli. Conscious of the region’s distinctive terroir and its centuries-old winemaking heritage, they set out slowly, establishing vineyards of both indigenous Turkish grapes and classic international varieties. Then they waited. Only after thirteen years — once the vines had properly matured — did they build the winery: a contemporary, 3,000-square-metre facility discreetly embedded into the landscape at the heart of the estate. The first vintage was finally celebrated in 2021.
That long fuse tells you almost everything about the house philosophy. Kuzubağ was never in a hurry, and it shows.
The region of Çal — known as Mossyna in ancient Greece — sits on a plateau between 850 and 1,100 metres above sea level, with the Büyük Menderes River flowing nearby. Its terroir is defined by clay-loam and calcareous soils and by dramatic daily temperature swings, with the gap between day and night averaging around 19°C. Those cool nights are the estate’s secret weapon: they let the grapes ripen slowly while holding onto their natural acidity, producing fruit of real concentration and freshness.
All fifty hectares of vineyard lie within Çal’s boundaries and are tended by hand throughout the year, farmed on a low-yield principle, then picked before sunrise and processed by gravity. The wines are certified organic. Everything is designed to carry the character of this one place, cleanly, into the bottle. As the winemaker has framed it, the whole point is to show what the terroir of Çal can do using only the grapes of the region.
The estate grows a wide spread of varieties — Çal Karası, Sultaniye, Kalecik Karası, Acıkara and Narince among the natives, alongside Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. But its heart lies with the local heroes. Kuzubağ has focused on reviving Çal Karası and Sultaniye, and more recently the Acıkara grape from Antalya — the kind of quietly important conservation work now driving the best of Turkish wine.
There’s a lovely detail that captures what this estate means to its community. When its Çal Karası won its first international gold medal, the locals celebrated alongside the family — a reminder that for a hometown winery, recognition isn’t just personal; it’s shared. Aslı Kuzu, now one of the country’s youngest female winemakers, has become part of the new generation putting Çal on the map. The estate opens its doors for tours and tastings as part of the Çal Vineyard Route, a growing wine-tourism corridor in western Anatolia.
Kuzubağ is proof that the newest Turkish wine can rest on the oldest foundations: a family, a hometown, and the patience to let the vines decide when the time is right.
Foxes & Grapes takes its name from the ancient Greek fable by Aesop — a story about desire, perspective, and how we sometimes convince ourselves that something just isn’t worth it simply because it feels out of reach.
In 2025, we opened Foxes & Grapes Wine Bar in Brussels with a simple philosophy: wine should be enjoyed, explored, and shared by everyone.
Within our first year, the bar received a Red Star and later a Silver Star from Star Wine List, and was recognised as a finalist for Best Newcomer Wine Bar in Belgium.
Operating the bar also helped us reflect on the long-term direction of the project. The traditional wine bar model did not fully align with the broader vision we had for Foxes & Grapes.
So we decided to evolve.
Today Foxes & Grapes is growing into a platform built around three pillars:
What began as a wine bar is becoming something bigger: a space where curiosity, discovery, and great bottles come together.
And this is only the beginning.
