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FOR THE FUTURE

LEVON BAĞIŞ

Born in 1980 in İstanbul, his interest in wine began while he was studying public administration at the university. This interest, in time, became his profession. He founded Turkey’s first chain wine boutique, the Kav Boutiques.

He had the chance of working in vineyards and in wineries during harvests between 2003 and 2009. For four years he was the marketing coordinator for Kavaklıdere Wines.

He has been doing winemaking as a profession for 19 years, which is his favorite job. One of Turkey’s most extensive wine professional education programs Kavekol by Kavaklidere Wines, was prepared by Levon Bagis. He also has an educational wine book called ‘Wines ABC’.

His articles have been published in Karaf and FEED magazines. He also has entries in Nuts Encyclopedia. He was one of the founding members of ‘New Local Conversations’, which is an important study in identifying Turkish cuisine. He is also an advisor for the ‘Gastronomika’ project made by Salt.

In 2009-2010 academic year he worked as a guest lecturer in Okan University’s Gastronomy department for the course of Alcoholic Beverages and Alcoholic Beverage Culture.

By the appointment of Wines of Turkey he represented Turkey in international organizations in 2013 & 2014.

He is a judge at London based International Wine Challenge competition since 2017 and Turkey’s Sommelier Challenge since 2013.

He provides consultancy services to wine producers and establishments that serve wine through his own consultancy firm. Since 2020, alongside his partners, has been managing a wine bistro called Foxy that serves wines made solely from local grapes.

He is a columnist in weekly newspaper Agos and in OT magazine

UMAY ÇEVİKER

Umay Çeviker is a WSET educated architect and a wine enthusiast who has been holding thematic tastings every month for 19 years with his tasting group in Ankara. He has published nearly 4.000 tasting notes, mostly of Turkish wines, on the Cellar Tracker portal.

He contributed to Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s The World Atlas of Wine in its 7th and 8th editions, to the Wine Grapes of Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz, and to the 4th edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine on Turkey. Many of his articles have been published on Jancisrobinson.com.

In 2015, he won the Geoffrey Roberts Award under the auspices of The Vintners’ Company for supporting emerging wine regions. This project, whose aim is to reveal Turkey’s disappearing vineyards, grape varieties and regions; is supported today with the Heritage Vines of Turkey initiative he co-founded.

He has been working as a judge at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), one of the most prestigious wine competitions in the world, since 2015. He is a regional ambassador for Turkey on behalf of the Old Vine Conference, which was initiated under the leadership of Sarah Abbott MW and whose aim is to draw attention to old grapevines and vines. He is also a member of Slow Food and Slow Wine Coalition.