Turkey - White
2016 Gold: 3 Silver: 1 Bronze: 4 Commended: 5
2015 Gold: 2 Silver: 3 Bronze: 3 Commended: 2
Apart from Narince (which rhymes with ‘ninja’) this book has no idea how to pronounce the native Turkish grape varieties. Yet it seems clear that this is where the future lies. While there are a lot of good Chardonnay blends (or even straight Chardonnays) coming out of this part of the world, several of our tasters pointed out that they want to see the authentic stuff; that there’s not much point in selling yet another Chardonnay just because it comes from Turkey.
That said, the grape clearly works really well with Narince and it’s undeniably true that nobody else is making this blend, so perhaps we should cut the Turks a little slack and let them get on with it.
Of course, this will be a hand-sell. But our tasters are less astonished to be confronted by a flight of these wines than they used to be.
Mainstream? Not quite. But Turkey is winning people over, and at these prices these wines are massively worth a look.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘I think the obvious place for these wines is a gastropub list or if you have hearty Mediterranean cuisine. They’re not necessarily the most fine-boned wines, they lend themselves to intense flavours.’ Natasha Hughes MW, team leader
‘I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a warm climate and you’re seeing that in the fruit profile – generous and opulent in fruit, but enough acidity. There was good weight and balance to the wines in general.’ Harry Crowther, M Restaurants
‘There’s no reason that Turkey shouldn’t create wines of serious character and quality. But if they let the international varieties take over, they’ll lose the fight.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘The most expensive were Chardonnays or Chardonnay-style and I think it’s a shame – they could have been made anywhere.’ Matthieu Longuère MS, Le Cordon Bleu