Close to Vratsa, to the Danube River, to the heart ...
At the beginning of 2023, 17 wineries united and created a wine map of the Western and Central Danube Plain.
A year and a half later,
the Bulgarian Association of Wine Professionals gathered a group of journalists for a tour of several wineries on the map. So, we celebrated the International Mavrud Day, tasted an excessive amount of fine wines and felt pride and joy in what the winemakers in this part of Bulgaria are doing.
The tour started with an extraordinary man – Todor Kostadinov, in his winery Agrofitness in the village of Borovtsi, near Montana. We still have warm and delicious memories of the Trifon Zarezan Open Days at his place – wine with character, food cooked by the local women, songs and dances flowing from the heart.
Todor is a passionate custodian and researcher of local old vine varieties – Zarchin, Pamid, Garvanovo oko, Gamza, Dimyat and others. A self-taught winemaker, reminiscent of Radichkov's characters. You must try his Pamid Garvanovo oko (Raven's Eye), winner of the Silver medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2024 and the Gold medal at this year's Balkan International Wine Festival.
We are heading to Vidin region – to the Novo Selo winery. They started building the winery with volunteer labour in 1939 and finished it in 1946. So, while some were making war, others were making wine. Today they have 720 acres of their own vineyards, of which 450 acres are new. They develop wine tourism and have a large tasting hall for 70 people.
We are tasting Rcatsitelli, from a 60-year-old vineyard, vintage 2021. The variety was once introduced to Bulgaria from Georgia, it has impressive minerality and length of flavour. We are even more impressed by Dunavski Lazur, a 1969 hybrid between Rcatsitelli and Villard Blanc, with a good body and good acidity.
We come to the protagonist – Gamza, which is said to have been brought to these parts by the Romans 2000 years ago. It has thin skin like Pinot Noir, a lighter and more delicate body, and well-pronounced acids. We are tasting the 2021 vintage announced as The Best Gamza in Bulgaria. It feels like eating a handful of cherries. And we are discovering the potential of Gamza as an aperitif wine that can be drunk chilled to 15-16 degrees and without food.
The road is calling us, though we cannot tear our ears away from the stories of the chief winemaker Daniel Nedyalkov – he has worked in New Zealand and in over 20 wineries here, a professional with a lot of knowledge and with the conviction that the terroir is the soil and the climate but also the human hand behind the grapes and the wine.
We follow the curve of Zlatorozhie and head to Bononia, one of the most modern wineries in Southeast Europe. The building was erected by two Austrian brothers in 1895 and was one of the first breweries in the Balkans. Today there are impressive 1600 decares of well-kept vineyards, with nearly 20 varieties, and the chief winemaker is one of the most famous names in the industry – Stefan Pirev. We learn from him that they work only with French oak, and their pride is the fermenters made to their design – not only aesthetic but also technological.
We are trying Dimyat – an elegant wine with good fruit flavour: citrus, apple, honey. Their Vrachanski Misket is a full-bodied wine with good intensity and a specific aroma – clove, hyacinth, rose. According to Pirev, this is the Bulgarian wine variety with the greatest potential.
We also enjoy this exceptional wine during lunch in the restaurant of the complex, where the cuisine is exquisite and delicious. The catfish is cooked masterfully, as are the desserts, the homemade bread with parmesan and pepper is one of those things you can't stop eating.
After lunch, we'd like to relax in one of the hotel's 22 gorgeous rooms, each with individual interior, but it's time for a long hike – to the Tipchenitza Cellar. We arrive after dark but the owner Velin Dzhidzev and the winemaker Nadia Mineva (also popular names in the wine industry) are waiting for us.
From them we learn that years ago (rather decades) the village was a centre for seedling production – they made 8 million sticks a year. The current owners also started the business first with seedlings, and as of 2018 are doing wine and tourism.
They rebuilt the old building of the Agricultural Cooperative, which was almost completely destroyed. Their vineyards are 600 m above sea level and they make 56,000 bottles a year. They work only by hand and Nadia takes care of the whole process – from the vineyard to the winery. She has the freedom to create and turn small batches into works of art.
We are tasting Vrachanski Misket and Rubin – the two emblematic varieties of Tipchenitza winery. Vrachanski Misket barrel, orange wine from Vrachanski Misket and Ruby Oak, aged 2 years in oak barrel and 2 years in bottle. We enjoy the specific freshness of the wines – even the aged ones. The temptation to stay in one of the five guest rooms is great, but we are heading for dinner in the restaurant of Ariel Hotel in Mezdra.
The restaurant welcomes us with elegance and spaciousness and with the hospitality of the Yordanov family – owners of Ariel hotel and the wine cellar ShaToni. They present us their wines paired with a delicious dinner: we try Vermentino with salad (we learn that the vegetables in it come from their own greenhouse Osiris – Mezdra), Cabernet Franc rosé with chicken pancake, Merlot Barrel 2021 with veal with porcini mushrooms and the fluffy homemade bread of Nadezhda Yordanova. And for dessert – a divine carrot cake with rachel and raspberries, served with Vrachanski Misket.
The pleasure is complete, the conversation intimate. The entrepreneur Toni Yordanov tells us the story – In the year 2000, he went to Petrovo village near the Greek border on business, discovered the wine of Melnik and decided to make a cellar. He built a modern and cozy complex near Mezdra – with 13 rooms and 3 apartments, a restaurant, tasting halls, and event rooms. And all these with fabulous views of the Vratsa Balkan! And the taste of Melnik can be found in the incredible rosé from Broad-leaved Melnik vine produced by ShaToni.
The last day of the tour takes us along the Danube. The beginning is in the cellar of Achinora. In 2018, Antoaneta Genova graduated in oenology in Bordeaux and her family entrusted her with viticulture and winemaking. They grow a total of 80 decares of Vrachanski Misket and Kailashki Misket, Storgosia and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2020 Tony made the first 600 bottles of Vrachanski Misket.
Today, the annual production is already 10,000 bottles, and the young lady knows the vineyard and what to expect. She follows the rhythm of nature and lets her intuition guide her. We compare Vrachanski Misket and Kailashki Misket 2022. Kailashki is wilder, while Vrachanski – more elegant and airy.
The Kailashki misket variety was made in 1976 from Villar Blanc and Hamburg Misket (table grapes), while the Vrachanski Misket is a naturally existing variety (according to some – a Hungarian variety, a cross between a Moldavian variety and a small-grape Muscat).
Achinora is the name of the first wife of Khan Asparuh and means ‘smelling like violets’ – the characteristic aroma of Vrachanski Misket, which gave birth to the popular Vrachanska Temenuga (there is a cellar with the same name, near Vratsa, with excellent wines and brandies).
We're also trying the Equinox series from 2021, with grapes picked 21-23 September – it is said that this brings prosperity. Yeast and clarifier free series, unfiltered, with low sulphites.
A real explosion of flavours. We understand why natural wines are so trendy lately. We finish with a semi-sweet 2023 Kailashki Misket, made from raisin grapes at the end of the vintage.
And we head to Oryahovo and Château Bourgozone. The Danube River meanders past a bank of vineyards, and the opposite is the island of Esperanto, with its fine sandy beach. Bourgozone is an example of successful strategy and realization. The winery is family-run – the parents take care of the vineyard and wine-making, and the two sisters are brand ambassadors. They grow 100 hectares of vineyards with 13 varieties, two of which are Bulgarian – Tamyanka and Gamza. Grapes are picked only by hand.
Due to the specificity of the terroir, their wines suit Western tastes and 60% of their wine is exported to nearly 20 countries. Since 2010, they have been exporting to the same customers – including two Michelin-starred restaurants in Belgium. They don't use much oak, make fresh, fruity and fine wines, and have a vegan wine certificate.
The tasting, which we do in the Belle Vue pavilion, located on a hill among the vineyards, is extremely professional – with exquisite pairing and the exciting narration of Emi Marinova. We start with Viognier, their most popular export wine.
We try extremely fresh Tamyanka and Chardonnay fermented in barrique – a more masculine wine, great with Christmas cookies and with foie gras. Bourgozone's Chardonnay is the only Bulgarian wine ever to receive 91 points from Wine Enthusiast.
Their Gamza lives up to its name – the word comes from Persian and means a sensitive, shy woman. Lighter, with lower tannins, they call it the Pinot Noir of Eastern Europe.
We're also trying Bourgozone's original Pinot Noir, which is served in the VIP lounge at JFKennedy Airport. And off we go to the last stop – Haralambievi winery. Dimitar Haralambiev studied viticulture in Germany and applies modern and environmentally friendly methods in growing grapes – grass between the rows, maximum green mass, no spraying, no fertilizing.
Their winery is located in the village of Petarnitsa near Pleven and relies on modern stylistics of the wines – clean and airy. We are tasting the 2023 vintage Solaris – another bold and very successful attempt of the winery to show how a German variety – a cross between Riesling, Pinot Gris and Muscat, would look in Bulgaria. We feel a huge bouquet of citrus – from lime to sweet orange.
Ruby 2021 also impresses us – with powerful tannins, which, however, quickly round off. The thing they are rightly proud of is Cabernet Franc – the 2020 vintage has a whole bunch of awards. For opulence, we try an amazing wine straight from the barrel – Dornfelder and Cabernet Franc,
vintage 2021, comparable to the best Amarone. To finish off this exciting wine journey, we drink a glass of Gewürztraminer with quince and a tincture of 18 herbs – all the flavour and charm of the region combined in one glass.
- Prolet Yordanova
КАРЕ
Zlatorozhie – where the Danube makes a bend and flows from north to south. Soil – good drainage and moisture retention, sand, limestone, clay, silt and carbonate black soil.
The Danube region, as soils and temperatures, is good for white wines. The big temperature amplitudes help to accumulate sugars.
