Comparing the 2011 & 2010 Suvla Surs
Last week I went to the Suvla shop in Cihangir for a bottle of Sur, completely forgetting that there were two. When I was stumped by which one to try the shop suggested getting both Suvla Surs to do a side-by-side comparison. Never one to turn down a good opportunity to drink yet more wine I happily accepted the proposal and bought both.
Suvla makes two Surs, one a 2011 and the other a 2010. Both are blends of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot (although in different percentages). Let’s begin, as I did, with the 2011.
Suvla Sur 2011 Tasting Notes
A dense garnet red the nose of the 2011 was redolent with spice and blackberry. According to the description on the bottle I should also have smelled mocha in the nose but in all my years of wine drinking I have never been able to detect coffee aromas. Ever. Since wine and coffee are my two favorite beverages I’m rather disappointed by this (although God forbid I ever encounter the Coke Blak version of wine-shudder).
The 2011 had medium, silky tannins that slowly expanded to fill the mouth. What I enjoyed about the tannins in 2011 was that they present like a wave; building up slowly, breaking over the tongue to fill the mouth, then receding to leave you with all the flavor and none of the cottony dryness that heavy tannins cause.
Suvla Sur 2010 Tasting Notes
Now the 2010. Wow. This was like two wines in one. My initial impression, after I picked myself up off the floor from the explosivity of the flavor, was of a vivid wine; tart and juicy with blueberries and prunes and a flavor as bright as its bright cherry color. A low tannin wine, it danced softly and elegantly in the mouth.
But there’s a second wine hiding inside. The more it opened, the deeper and oakier it became. It was almost like being able to taste the aging process.
2011 2010
Merlot 57% Merlot 50%
Cabernet Franc 22% Cabernet Franc 14%
Cabernet Sauvignon 19% Cabernet Sauvignon 34%
Petit Verdot 2% Petit Verdot 2%
I really felt utterly decadent sitting all by my onesy with two glasses and two bottles.
I’ve never tried to compare two vintages of the same wine the way I did with these Suvla Surs. Probably I should have Googled a how to. But going by my taste buds, this is what I got:
2011 2010
Jammy Tart/Juicy
Spice Spice
Med tannins Light tannins
Velvety Bright
Consistent Layered
So after all that, where do I come down on the Suvla Surs? At first I liked the 2010 better. I really loved the initial juiciness but my love affair kind of died as it opened and the oakiness became more apparent. However in the end I surprised myself by coming down on the side of the 2011. The 2010 might go really well with grilled meats but I don’t really have a lot of grilled meat laying around. What I do have is Parmesan* and chocolate. Especially the latter. Neither of those went particularly well with the 2010 but with the 2011…the Parmesan softened the spice and let the berry flavors shine and with chocolate…dude. The 2011 intensified the chocolate and made my 1 TL candy bar taste like premiere European chocolate. So I guess it’s really a no brainer as to which I liked better!
*This reminds me…on my recent trip to London L and I escaped the rain with lunch in an Italian restaurant off Leicester Square. I ordered the Carbonara (and we’re all shocked of course that I was eating bacon like it were going out of style) and of course accepted the offer of freshly grated Parmesan. Our flirty waiter stopped to check on us a few minutes later joking that he just knew we wanted more cheese. I laughingly told him that with the price that I pay for Parmesan in Turkey he could stand there grating all afternoon. Five minutes later he sidled up to our table with a napkin wrapped package that turned out to be several pounds of Parmesan. L couldn’t stop laughing about my ‘tribute’ (especially since it turned out that night was the world premiere of whatever the new Hunger Games movie is at the Odeon in Leicester). And he wouldn’t even let us tip him. He’s now my cheese boyfriend.
BTW – I accept tribute in all forms but cheese is definitely one of my favorites.