Sevilen Premium Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a tricky beast. Or at least I find it to be so. I have been burned by so many cheap and overly and clumsily oaked wines; I now look at Chardonnay with a wary eye. I dislike oak on my Chardonnay in general and have found few exceptions to that. However, if any winery in Turkey has changed my mind, it was Turkish wine giant Sevilen.
Appellations are so useful for wine consumers. Not only do they carry a guarantee of quality, they also give a good idea about what you’re going to find in the bottle. Turkey has no appellations. Quality guarantees are based on the trust you have in that particular winemaker.
For me, this makes choosing Chardonnay wines especially frustrating. I gravitate towards wines from Chablis, Mâconnais, or New Zealand where I know the wine is clean and fresh and hasn’t been hit over the head with an oak tree. Those are a rarity here but I have had some amazing examples like Yedi Bilgeler’s Anaxagoras. Suvla’s organic Chardonnay, and even from Sevilen, the Isa Bey Chardonnay.
Sevilen’s Premium Chardonnay comes from the company’s Ultra Premium line. The wine aged on the lees for a whopping 12 months in French oak. But. It was well-integrated in the wine. The wine’s dark gold color unfolded aromas of citrus, smoked hay, burnt vanilla, and nougat. On the palate, a full, round body with 13.5% abv and flavors of creme brulee and citrus peel. What really surprised me and I think tipped me towards enjoying this was the zesty and lively acid that completed the whole picture and made the wine feel clean and balanced.
While appellations do not yet exist in Turkey to help consumers choose their wine, at least I know which companies I can trust! And Sevilen definitely counts as one of them.