b o u U s
HISRIM WINES
S H O R T I S O R Y O F T H E H I F A M I L Y
Hısrım is the word for ‘unripe grape’ in Arabic. In Turkish, among people, it is called ‘Koruk’.
This fruit full of healing benefits, discovered centuries ago, one day appears as the nickname of a family who lived in Mardin around the 1700s. The first known ancestor of this family creates a magnificent pigment out of Koruk, and it was a great discovery for that age. Additionally, the madder created from Koruk is used in drapery, rug weaving, and businesses as such. The bond this family has to grapes and Koruk has accompanied us for 300 years without fading. Even today, there are many works that can prove this color skill to us.
HISRIM WINES
S H O R T I S O R Y O F T H E H I F A M I L Y
As it can be seen on our family tree, all of our family members’ whose roots commenced in the 1700s have lived in Mardin since 300 years. We also have many relatives who have migrated over to different countries for a variety of reasons in the last century. Apart from the Hısrım family, which has spread to 15 countries around the world that we know of thanks to my research, unfortunately we also have family members who are missing and whose whereabouts are unknown. Despite everything, I am constantly in touch with our relatives who have not broken contact. And from time to time, with much passion, I tell about our ancestry to interested families who are visiting our country.
For 35 years, I have been making a great effort to keep this tree alive, which I inherited from my late grandfather Cırcıs Hanaşe Güzeliş. Thanks to my trip to Brazil in 1997, I fortunately had the chance to meet many of my relatives. This trip was the most amazing and most emotional trip I had in my life. About 120 people attended this great meeting that day. It was as if we had last seen one another just the other week. We were already familiar and emotional. For the first time, someone from their homeland was visiting these people, whose ancestors had migrated from Mardin 110 years ago. This experience has shown me that our family bond has been strong, and has developed with this strength, despite us being on opposite sides of the planet.
Imagine five brothers, with nothing but a suitcase and their family, traveling to the other side of the world. And each immigrated with a copy of a family tree that they got in Mardin. While in Brazil, I had the chance to get ahold of these copies. These copies smelled of history and family.
During the times we lived in Mardin, our family has contributed to countless services and works to society. Many of these works survive to this day. The most important of these works are those made by hand. In the Hısrım family, my great-grandfather started his business life as a jeweler, thus making me a 4th generation jeweler. I ended up learning this profession around the workshop kitchen. I still pursue this profession, which I learned at ages around 7-8 during summer holidays. Therefore, almost all of the works left by our ancestors in Mardin, are based on handcraft.
Approximately 250 family members belonging to our family tree live in Istanbul. Additionally, with deceased members, our family totals 660 people. If missing members were to be included, this number may reach up to 800. In the name of unity and togetherness, I organized the “1st Family Reunion” in Istanbul, in 1998. We celebrated our day with many participating family members from Brazil. We held our “2nd Family Reunion” in 2022 with our dear family members, and other members coming from Argentina. I had to make hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, texts to make this meeting possible. Some hadn’t the slightest clue they were a part of such a large family. Yet sadness and joy were felt between the family.
In order to complete the family tree, I requested from the family members the oldest informations and photographs left from their ancestors, and added them to my archive. It was a great joy for all the family members around the world. I am delighted to leave such a magnificent and unifying legacy for the future. Our family name, which started out as Hısrım, has come a long way, facing changes along the years. Since the nickname Hanaşe is more common in Mardin, that is what it is known as. This was later changed to this surnames
HISRIM – HELVACI – HANAŞE – ANACHE – SARE – ÖZKARDEŞ – GEZER AND GÜZELİŞ
A B O U T R A E A N D W I N E ”
The region in which wine has been used for the longest is Mesopotamia. Whether it be its fertile soil or its sun, the region has always been suitable for wine production.
I remember crushing my grandfather’s grapes with my little feet in Mardin as a child, about seven or eight years of age. My grandfather Cırcıs Hanaşe Güzeliş would happily tell me how he used a recipe while making real house wines, which he learned from his grandfather, Hanna Helvacı Hısrım. My late grandfather’s voice still lingers in my ears. In fact, from time to time, I can still envision the pride and smile on his face when he talked about the recipe.
The paint he used would last for centuries without fading. It is said that making this paint formula is so challenging, that this challenge was reflected onto a proverb that goes as “It is as if I’m making hısrım, for this is so difficult.” On my first trip to Mardin, I was very touched by the fact that the people from the community still use this proverb.
Some documents that I came across by chance a few years ago, reminded me of those childhood years, my grandfather’s memories, and grapes once again. I realized that my grandfather’s methods were my greatest resource and a unique blessing.
I realized it was time to owe gratitude to my ancestors.
I decided to implement this project in order to keep them alive today; to glorify the name of our family, and most importantly to share what we have with the world.
I got in touch with professionals of this business by mobilizing all the possibilities to see how we could adapt this tradition to the modern day in the best way.
Finally, with the support of Mr. Saba Açıkgöz, one of our country’s valuable oenologists, a magnificent wine and a true story emerged. In this way, we were able to achieve the highest level of quality.
This is the short history of Mardin and the Syriacs. I believe it should be brought to this day. I am also happy and proud to implement a whole new meaning to this project. For centuries, my precious family has used all means to protect their churches and monasteries, and I am determined to continue this tradition.
Therefore, the income from this project will be given to the Deyrülzafaran Monastery, which has high financial needs.
Today’s facilities and technology bring winemaking to very high standards in this region. The soils in Midin village of Mardin are the ancient lands where the best quality grapes have grown. Grapes grown in Midin whose local names are Mazrona, Karkuş, Bılbızeki, Raşe Gurnik, Gavdoni, Kıttıl Nefs are the Boğazkere and Öküzgözü types. These grapes are aged for months in oak barrels brought from France. These quality soils, wine barrels, and sunlight, add a unique flavor to the wine you drink. They are capable of aging for 20 years when maintained properly.
We offer this wine, of the Hısrım family which has a 300-year history, of the highest grade, from the best grapes grown in this region; without compromising its quality. This wine is aged for 10 months in the world’s best oak barrels.
Our wine is produced as Red Sek – Dry Red Wine.
Recommended to drink cool at room temperature.
This is a “Mardin Wine”
This is a “Mardin Legacy”
İlhan Güzeliş Hanaşe Helvacı Hısrım
