Turkish wines awarded medals in competiton

ISTANBUL

Tuğrul Şavkay Turkish Wines Competition, organized by the Wine Friends Association for the last 34 years, was held internationally for the first time this year as part of the “International Wine and Spirits Competition - IWSC.”

In the international leg of the competition, where 54 producers joined with 260 wines, five Turkish wines were awarded the gold medal with a score of 95 and above. While 40 Turkish wines were awarded a silver medal, 122 of Turkish wines were awarded a bronze medal.

With this cooperation, the goal is to get Turkish viticulture expertise registered internationally, get the place it deserves among the world wines and increase its export potential to global markets.

Turkish wines were evaluated with the IWSC methodology by a jury comprising five international judges under the leadership of Sarah Abbott, one of the world’s leading wine experts, at the 34th Tugrul Şavkay Turkish Wines Competition.

In the national leg of the competition, members of the Wine Friends Association, wine producers and wine professionals independently graded the wines in the competition with the IWSC methodology and rules under the leadership of Professor Ertan Anlı.

The international jury of the competition, shown among the most respected experts in the world in their fields, consisted of Sarah Abbott MW, Alistair Cooper MW, Rebecca Palmer, Salvatore Castano, David Kermode, Cat Lomax and İsa Bal. The names in the Turkish jury team were Levon Bağış, Umay Çeviker, Sabiha Apaydın Gönenli, Meltem Coşkun Saracoğlu and Gözdem Gürbüzatik.

As a result of the tasting made by the IWSC jury, five Turkish wines were honored with the gold medal with a score of 95 and above. These wines were evaluated as “excellent wines with great features and stand out among their peers.”

Within the scope of the cooperation agreement between the Wine Friends Association and IWSC, one of the most respected wine platforms in the world, IWSC will continue its promotional activities about Turkish wines and winemaking through its own media and international network.

Dilek Bil, the president of the Friends of Wine Association, reminded that 77.8 million tons of grapes are produced in 6,925,972 hectares of land in the world and that 56 percent of this land is used in wine production.

“Our goal with the Tuğrul Şavkay Turkish Wines Competition is to support the increase of our export share, which is approximately 10 million euros in the world market of 30 billion euros, which is well below our potential,” she said.