I would like to introduce to you not just wine, but a style of wine which is really popular in Türkiye. This is Fumé Blanc. This is Sauvignon Blanc matured in oak barrels for a while... You may wonder why?
Robert Mondavi. Photo courtesy of Robert Mondavi Winery.
What is Fumé Blanc?
Fumé Blanc is the special style of Sauvignon Blanc matured in oak barrels.
It was invented by legendary American winemaker Robert Mondavi. In the 60's Sauvignon Blanc was out of fashion and had a reputation of quite a boring wine. At that time Sauvignon Blanc wines were produced mostly in sweeter styles.
Maturing in oak barrels + fermenting to dryness + effective naming = this was the formula of the triumphant return of the former champion with a new name: Fumé Blanc.
Fumé Blanc is a new trend in Türkiye
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the international grape varieties grown widely in Turkey and most of the local producers already gained experience of working successfully with this grape. Recently almost all Turkish producers who worked with Sauvignon Blanc also started to create their versions of Fumé Blanc.
How it tastes?
How it tastes? Just imagine what you expect from Sauvignon Blanc. It is a high acidity, also some fresh fruits, tropical fruits, some pineapple, melon, passion fruit and of course, some citrus, lime and lemon, orange zest… But just imagine it is grilled, like a grilled pineapple!
After it is matured in oak barrels, wine becomes more smoky. It gets this smoky note, just like from the mangal! This wine is full of ripe fruits flavors. Just like New World's Sauvignon Blanc. But because of barrels, it's not that fruity that would disturb you and clash with food. So it's just perfect with grilled seafood, with grilled fish, with grilled vegetables and for any kind of picnic during summer around some fire and some mangal. It has this smoke of mangal inside it, but really, really balanced and not overwhelming the fruity notes. So for me, it's just a liquid grilled pineapple here!
It has high acidity, so it's pretty refreshing. A lot of this citrusy lemon zest note makes you feel really good during hot summer days. And it has some sweet notes, like touch of vanilla, some smokiness.
Curious about this trendy wine? Below are my Top discoveries of Turkish Fumé Blancs for you to start with:
Fumé Blanc #1 - Most tropical with bright acidity - Likya Fumé Blanc
Likya's Fume Blanc is one with the most expressive tropical fruits and brightest, vibrating acitidy. I try every vintage of this wine with pleasure and enjoy the whole spectrum of tropical fruits, especially passion fruit, cantaloupe melon and papaya with a generous splash of lime juice.
It you like high acidity and tropical vibes - this is the best choice for you.
If you are visiting Antalya it is a great idea to visit the Likya winery itself to see where it is coming from.
Likya Fume Blanc 2019 - photo by Vasylysa YILMAZ
Fumé Blanc #2 - Most elegant and crispy - Sevilen 900 Fume Blanc
900 - is the elevation of Anatolian plateau where the grapes are coming from so it gives name to this wine.
The most classy among Turkish Fume Blancs, it is driven by acidity, full of ripe yet elegant fruits like juicy peach, pineapple, passion fruit and yellow apple with citrusy freshness.
It offers serious mouthfeel and classic balance of great concentration of fruit flavors, bright acidity, spiced with incredibly pleasant notes of grilled limes, toasted hazelnuts, coffee beans and a croissant crust.
Sevilen 900 Fume Blanc 2018 - photo by Vasylysa YILMAZ
Every vintage of Fume Blanc 900 by Sevilen is sold out very quickly, just grab a bottle or two if you find it and you won't be disappointed.
Fumé Blanc #3 - Most New World Style - Akın Gürbüz Winery
Akın Gürbüz is a winemaker and winery owner, who intentionally spent a lot of time in California, USA and New Zealand. Sauvignon Blanc and especially it's New World version is a special passion of Akın. He works a lot with this grape variety, experiments with different plots of different vineyards and also produces Fume Blanc version.
It appears to be a portal to the New Zealand and connects you directly to its wine style!
Off-dry, with high acidity and medium+ body, it is full of ripe juicy peach, melon, fresh orange juice and also candied lemon zest, some whipped cream notes with vanilla and light charred wood shadow.
Tasting Fume Blanc in a company with the rest of Akın's wines during the visit to Gürbüz Winery
This wine is also quite rare find, but the winery is just one hour ride from Istanbul and it worth visiting for tasting and great conversation with winemaker. So good news is: you don't need to go to New Zealand anymore to try wines in New World's style, just visit Gürbüz Winery! :)
Fumé Blanc #4 - Most flinty and silky - Fumé Blanc 7 Bilgeler
The man behind this winery - Bilge is The Lord of the Yeasts. He mastered all the ways how to naturally boost fruity aromas and bring out the most favorable ones by using the most suitable strain of yeasts.
As a result, this Fume Blanc is perfumed with wide range of aromas: melon, orange, peach, apricot, passion fruit, gooseberry and grapefruit with some flinty reductive notes, smoky brioche. Creamy texture with silky layers of flavors. Those generous flavors are in good balance with quite bright acidity.
Photo credit: instagram of 7 Bilgeler winery @yedibilgeler
Little wonder that wines of 7 Bilgeler including Fume Blanc receive prestigious international awards every vintage. Just recently the newest Fume Blanc 2022 was awarded high score of 90 points by Oz Clarke OBE and Madeleine Stenwreth MW at Challenging Master Classes 2023 in Istanbul.
7 Bilgeler winery is situated in Aegean region, close to Izmir and famous museum of an ancient city Ephesus. There is a great restaurant and a boutique hotel right at the winery, so keep it in mind while planning your Turkish holiday this summer.
Photo credit: instagram of 7 Bilgeler winery @yedibilgeler
Fumé Blanc #5 - Most peachy, creamy and gastronomic - Barel Vineyards
This winery situated in Marmara Sea region, Thrace region, just 1.5 hour ride from Istanbul, was one of the first Turkish wineries I visited many years ago. Since that time I feel kind of emotional connection to its products. I remember, that during our first visit, they had only red wines and were going to have some whites next vintage.
It was worth waiting few years: they grew good grapes and mastered great wine from it! This Fume Blanc and its incredibly juicy peach flavor just brought me directly to my Crimean childhood, when trees were big and there was nothing tastier than a ripe peach right from the tree, dowsing you with fresh juice with every bite... I never had those taste of ripe peaches ever since... but then I found this Fume Blanc!
Good and refreshing acidity is in great balance with rich peach, pineapple, red apple flavors, with hint of spicy ginger, cinnamon and prolonged creamy finish with a hint of orange zest and tiny touch of brown sugar.
Grilled calamari, salmon or sea bass would be a great company for this bottle!
Photo credit: instagram of Barel Vineyards @barelvineyards
And yes, they have amazing restaurant surrounded by vineyards. I think, it sounds like a plan now: it's time to visit Barel Vineyards again.
Fumé Blanc #6 Most fresh with a hint of vanilla fudge - Kuzubağ Winery
Last but not least, exactly this Fumé Blanc inspired me to write this article! I have mentioned my favorite Fumé Blanc wines before, but every vintage brings something new, every year some new producers appear or the ol one masters their wines to the next level.
This spring I discovered this winery - Kuzubağ from Çal, Denizli region situated very close to the famous Pamukkale and Hierapolis. I decided to try their different wines to get the impression of their quality level. And I wasn't disappointed at all.
In the glass of Fumé Blanc there was a good company waiting for me: guava, grapefruit, lemon, gooseberry, black currant and tomato leaves, some waxy and matchsticks notes, croissant, coffee beans and some fruity Montpensier bonbons. All those flavors are hold together by good refreshing acidity. Isn't is what we all need during hot Turkish summer, especially while on holidays?
You are welcome to check my video tasting notes on this Fumé Blanc: it was so impressive and so good as an aperitif for our picknick, so I couldn't stop myself from sharing with you all these Turkish Fumé Blanc tasting notes for Summer 2023!
Fumé or not Fumé?
I appreciate those experiments of Turkish winemakers a lot: they develop themselves, develop market and range of products. I do like and I am proud of the final results by those wineries above! Those are the great decent wines at international level! Well done!
In my opinion it worth buying it, even if you have to pay more for those wines - the usage of French and American barrels definitely adds to the cost. But I definitely prefer to drink less and enjoy more! :)
I didn't add any prices, since (unfortunately) they change way too fast in Turkey now. In the end of May the retail price range for Fumé Blancs was 350-500 TL - 15-20 Euro per bottle. Believe me, it is (was?) a good price for a good wine to bring to a good mangal party.
So if you notice a Fumé Blanc in a restaurant's wine list, I definitely recommend to try it!
As for retail, you may try your luck at best specialised wine shops: they will have some of those Fumé Blancs for sure.
Good luck with your wine discoveries!
Istanbul:
Antalya:
Looking forward for your feedbacks and you are welcome to tag @stambulka on Instagram while sharing your tasting notes - I am curious about your wine discoveries! Cheers!
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