Best of wines join competition in Turkey's Thrace region

Aylin Öney Tan - TEKİRDAĞ

The 1st Thrace Wine competition was recently held in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ. The competition was organized by wine expert Burçak Desombre, the owner of Vinipedia Wine Consultancy. The competition took place as part of the Thrace Vineyard Harvest and Ecology Festival, an initiative of the Süleymanpaşa Municipality and Mayor Ekrem Eşkinat.   

The competition aimed to promote the wines and wineries of Thrace on an international level. The competition was open to wines with 100 percent Thracian grapes. The first year’s participant wineries were (in alphabetical order) Arcadia, Arda Bağcılık, Bağcı, Barbare, Barel, Chamlija, Chateau Kalpak, Chateau Nuzun, Doluca, Gali, Gülor, Kayra, Saranta, Suvla, Umurbey and Vino Dessera. Some major sponsors presented six bottles, while some minor contributors only presented two bottles. There were 76 wines competing in total and 57 medals, including five golds (91-100 points), 20 silvers (86-90 points) and 32 bronzes (80-85 points), were awarded. 
 
The jury members of the competition included U.K. wine journalist and writer, Master of Wine Tim Atkin, is one of the most recognized wine authorities in the world, having won 25 awards in his 28-year career. The other jury members were  New Zealand-born Master of Wine based in London, Peter McCombie and Master Sommelier Ronan Sayburn. 

Liebherr wine cabinets supplied by Vector house Appliances; and Paşabahçe, Nude Vintage wine glasses contributed to the competition as sponsors.