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World Malbec Day with Yusta Bursa

 

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It’s World Malbec Day! This French grape is a global people pleaser.  While mostly known for the wines produced in Argentina, its popularity knows no bounds. According to Wine-Searcher.com, people happily grow Malbec Argentina and France of course, but also Chile, the US, Australia, South Africa, and “other”. 

I guess Turkey falls in “other”.

Malbec has become very popular here over recent years and I’ve written about it any number of times, most recently, I think, in this piece. It appears in blends and varietals in quite a few regions including Thrace, Marmara, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. But this Malbec World Day, it’s all about the Marmara regions’ Yusta Bursa Malbec.

Yusta Bursa

Once upon a time, Mudanya, a municipality of the Bursa province, was full of vineyards. Here, a large Greek population lived and made wine until the 1920’s. As the population shifted to a predominately Turkish society, people replaces vines with figs and other crops. Yusta Bursa is the first winery, not only in Mudanya but also in wider Bursa in almost a century.

In 2007, Yıldırım Beyazıt Usta took the first steps to creating his winery. While planting began that year, it would be a 10-year battle to obtain all the government permissions necessary to build the winery itself. So it would not be until 2017 that Yusta Bursa was able to release its first commercial vintage.

Although still surrounded by the famous Mudanya figs, row upon row of  Shiraz, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Sauvingon Blanc surround the winery and support its small (10-15,000 bottle) production. 

Yusta Bursa Malbec, 2020

Of the already small amount of wine Yusta Bursa produces, Malbec makes up a tiny portion with only 800 bottles in 2020. 

The Yusta Bursa Malbec spends a whopping 21 months in French oak before bottling. The resulting wine pours an inky black with enticingly rich aromas of damson plum, green pepper, brown spices, tobacco, and purple flowers with a thread of vanilla twined through the bouquet.

Sipping revealed a smooth palate with structure and medium acidity. Big fruit flavors of plum, blackberry, and fig syrup echo the nose with notes of vanilla and sweet spices before sliding into a creamy milk chocolate finish. 

I wanted to pair this with something more interesting than just meat. In the end, I went with a mixed greens salad with fresh Devici pears and dried figs topped with barely seared flank steak and dressed with a fig-infused balsamic vinegar. 

SRP: 1105 TL. I received this wine as a sample from Yusta Bursa but all opinions are my own.