Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc 2014
While I have discovered that Solera, my favorite wine bar in Istanbul, does not always have the lowest prices on bottles, they still win for service. I was in there not too long ago looking for more white wines for summer drinking and I fell into conversation with one of the guys about the variety of flavors found in Sauvignon Blanc wines. He suggested the Isa Bey but Isa Bey’s leans a little green and I like a riper Sauvignon Blanc. He kind of squints at me, tells me “I know what you want” then proceeds to open an 85TL bottle of Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc so I can taste it. And he was right, that was what I wanted so I left with a bottle of my very own (63.75 TL after the 25% to go discount).
In the glass the Umurbey Sauvignon Blanc is a brilliant, pale straw color with lots of pineapple in the nose. On the palate it’s got lively acid and has a medium-long finish. It’s a great example of a very ripe Sauvignon Blanc and is very fruity with lots of pineapple and melon flavors. It’s really gorgeous and entirely too drinkable as it turned out. I drank the entire in one night. It’s a good thing I work from home and didn’t have to get up especially early the next morning!
It paired beautifully with brie and prosciutto, although to be fair what doesn’t pair beautifully with brie and prosciutto? Being on the riper/sweeter end of the Sauvignon Blanc scale the Umurbey also paired well with desserts; in my case chocolate and butterscotch oatmeal cookies.
I get really excited when I find white wines I like because it is a fairly rare occurrence; at least compared to how often I find red wines I like. the Umurbey 2014 Sauvignon Blanc was one of those exciting discoveries. I didn’t just like this wine, I really liked it a whole lot. I’ll be back for more.