Quality Turkish wines to stock British shelves

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Taner Öğütoğlu head of the Wines of Turkey Platform, says Turkey will market its quality wines to the UK.

Leading Turkish wine producers have made a series of agreements with the three largest retail chains in the United Kingdom to place Turkish wines on UK market shelves, the head of the Wines of Turkey Platform said yesterday.

“Turkey will market its quality wines to the UK market through the large retail chains,” said Taner Öğütoğlu, without mentioning specific names due to a confidentiality agreement in force until April. He said Turkish wines deserved to rank among the top wines of the world, as Turkey is the historical homeland of the oldest types of grapes and wine production. Despite the efforts of the platform to make Turkish wine known across the world in recent years, the volume of Turkey’s wine exports still fall far short of many other countries, such as New Zealand.

While the Pacific country exported nearly $865.5 million worth of wines last year, Turkey’s export volume of wine was only $7.43 million.

“We are dedicated to marketing Turkish wine to the world, as Turkish wine brands received more than 300 international awards last year,” Öğütoğlu said. The platform is also preparing to host the 5TH Digital Wine Communication Conference of European Wine Bloggers (EWBC) on Nov. 9-11 in the western province of İzmir.