Torbalı: A Day of Cars and Wine

Saturday, 27 August 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 90F (32C) / Lo 74F (23C)

Had a great day in Torbalı  — one of the districts of the province of İzmir … a drive of 35 miles (55 km) or so.  More accurately, we had a great time visiting a museum and a vineyard … we didn’t actually explore the town this time.

Our first stop was the Key Museum, established to house a collection of cars assembled from all around the world — all polished to an eye-dazzling sheen.  Also on exhibit … a number of motorcycles, model cars, hood ornaments, and scarves reflecting the automobile culture of the time.

Benz 18/45 4-pax runabout (1914) — note the snake-shaped horn.

Renault Type NM 40 CV Coupe De Ville (1925)

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupe

Lalique hood ornaments were produced between 1860-1945 and adorned the hoods of stylish autos of the time … such as Bentley, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Mercedes Benz, and more.

Batmobile (1966) — was used in "Batman: The Movie."

A collection of matchbook cars decorate the entrance to the model car gallery.

Twin Coach Helms Bakery Truck (1935)

Scarves were once a necessary item used by Roman workers laboring in hot factories.
At the beginning of the 19th century, they became a fashion icon, made popular by women who started using them to protect their hair from the wind when riding in convertible cars.

Ford A Model Speedster (1929); 4,320,466 of these vehicles were produced.


Hood ornaments date back to ancient Egypt … they were used to decorate chariots.

Indian Board Track Racer (1921)

Left: Mom, Aylin & Murat take a load off for a refreshing beverage.
Right: Perfect for a billiards / automobile aficionado.

From the museum we headed to the nearby Lucien Arkas Bağları [vineyard].  At first we weren’t sure if we were going to get where we really wanted to go — the GPS directed us to take a couple of narrow, dirt roads.  Roundabout our route may have been, but turns out it was a shortcut and soon we were pulling up in front of the restaurant on the property … LA Mahzen [cellar … the LA is a reference to the initials of the owner].

LA Mahzen overlooks the extensive grounds of the Lucien Arkas Vineyard.

The vineyard was established in 2010.  The website describes it as having been “… born of a dream to produce wines to world standards on Aegean lands, which have been the cradle of wine-making and viticulture for hundreds of years.”  I’m no wine expert, so I can’t say whether the wines are world-standard or not, but all four of us enjoyed our selections with the tapas-style meal we opted to order in lieu of individual main courses.  We concluded our meal with a quick tour of the cellar under the restaurant.

Terrace Seating @ LA Mahzen	A peek through the glass floor into the cellar.

Arriving well-after lunch time, we have the restaurant to ourselves.

Our tapas-style lunch includes a trio of bruschetta; a smoked meats and cheese
platter; arancini; and grilled shrimp.  Dessert is a delicious pumpkin crème brûlėe
and panna cotta with blackberry sauce.  Afterwards we tour the cellar.

We really enjoyed the ambiance, the food, and the wine at LA Mahzen … it was a great way to wrap up our daytrip to Torbalı.  Our only regret — had we known about the special harvest activities, which included “pick your own grapes,” we would have timed our outing differently.  Next time!

[More photos from the museum and the vineyard are in this online gallery.]

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