Friday
Istanbul Eats Drinks: 2007 Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc
An affordable trip to New Zealand can be had by simply visiting your nearest wine shop in Istanbul and asking for a bottle of the Turkish-made Umurbey sauvignon blanc. Made from the same grapes that have helped put whites from New Zealand on the wine map, this local alternative is successful enough that in a blind tasting it would be no surprise if professionals confuse the Umurbey sauvignon blanc with similar and better-known wines from New Zealand, Chile or South Africa.
The Umurbey vineyards, planted in 1993, sit 200m above sea level and five kilometers from the seaside, in Yazır village to the west of Tekirdağ, in Turkey’s Thrace regoin. The clay and sandy earth there provide perfect conditions for growing chardonnay, semillion, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah grapes. The grapes, picked at the end of August, are harvested by hand and carried with the utmost care to the winery.
I tried the 2007 and found it a surprisingly lively wine. Continue…
All entries filed under this archive
4 responses - Posted 02.11.11
(Editor's Note: We’ve recently been lucky enough to make the acquaintance of Serdar Kombe, one of Turkey’s leading oenophiles. These are exciting times for Turkish wine and Serdar has generously agreed to start a guest column for us about the subject. In his first review for us, he takes a ...continue
4 responses - Posted 02.10.11
(Editor’s Note: We’ve recently been lucky enough to make the acquaintance of Serdar Kombe, one of Turkey’s leading oenophiles. These are exciting times for Turkish wine and Serdar has generously agreed to start a guest column for us about the subject. Today we are running a brief primer by Serdar ...continue
no responses - Posted 06.22.10
The Scotsman has an article that takes a look at some of the developments in Turkish winemaking and offers up some recommended bottles. You can find the article here. continue
5 responses - Posted 02.01.10
(Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of our new advice column, "Since You Asked," in which we plan to answer readers’ questions about anything food and drink related in Istanbul (and even beyond). Got a question? Send it in to istanbuleats@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer it in an ...continue