Raising a glass to Mürefte

Those with a nose for wine need look no further than Mürefte on the Marmara, a small town in Tekirdağ that is responsible for a significant portion of Turkey’s wine production I have been to Mürefte a couple of times, and every trip has been a pleasant experience. It does not take long to reach Mürefte, located on the Marmara Sea coast in Şarköy, Tekirdağ; from Istanbul, it might take you three hours at most. This is a perfect escape plan for the weekend. Mürefte has a couple of places where you can stay, but don’t expect too much luxury. Just think like this: All you’re doing is spending the night, because during the day, you will be too busy.

About 15 kilometers before you reach Mürefte, there is a strange wooden construction that goes like a pier into the sea. If you’re lucky, people will be catching fish, and it is nice to see how they are doing this. They have a big, square fishnet attached to a mechanism that can pull the net up. All they have to do is lower the net into the sea and wait for the fish to swim above the net. If or when there are enough fish above it the fisherman quickly raises the net and pulls the net toward the place where he is sitting.

The whole pier was made of wood but in such a way that I wondered if it could carry the weight of a single man. The funny thing was that, as far as I could see, there was nothing of value on the pier but in between the land and the sea they placed a door as if it was Fort Knox. I had never seen such a solid door. Unfortunately nobody was there to fish and the door was locked so I was not able to see more of this interesting construction.

Twenty minutes later I was in Mürefte, and it was not hard to deduce what the main source of income...