Just returned from Bulgaria skiing holiday.
Glad to say all in one piece.

I had the pleasure to Meet Shteryu (Teri) and sampled a number of wines. (photo link below hopefully)
He supplied some lovely wines and Bulgarian meats and cheeses and was very knowledgable.


Fizz

Edoardo Miroglio Eood Brut Teri wine
Degorgement Jan 2010
Alcohol 13%
75cl
22 Lev / £10.50
Grape 80% Pinot Noir 20% Chardonnay

TN
Colour, light golden
Nose, fresh fruit slighty sweet as well, not over fizzy small bubbles but not loads of them.
Taste, dry and crisp with soft fruit not too long with honey toast finish.
Enjoyable fizz and the wife liked it so must be good.
Not a massive fan of fizz myself but seemed a good enough example and will be buying some directly from Teri. 15/20


Whites

Katarzyna Estate Tcherga
Domain Menada Winery
2009
Alcohol 14%
375ml
18 Lev / £7.95
Grape Chardonnay, Aligote and Dimiat
Thracian Valley

TN
Colour, lemony with light golden tinges,I was expecting a heavier looking wine.
Nose, Candy sweet with a Elderflower coming through.
Taste, Mid length, soft ripe lemon on the front finished by a warm spicy pepper.
Enjoyable and our first wine of the holiday 15/20


Chateau De Val Teri Wine
2008
Alcohol 14.5%
Barrel Fermented
75cl
28 Lev / £13.00
Grape Chardonnay

Colour,light golden
Nose, topical friut nose.
Taste, Apple Peachy smokie ok length
OK no wow factor for me 14/20


No Mans Land
Damianitza
2009
Alcohol 12%
375ml
10 Lev / £4.45
Grape Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay

TN
Colour, Crystal clear almost watery to look at.
Nose, Very flowery and screams of Sauvignon blanc, not my favorite grape but worth trying.
Taste, The usual two dimensional Sav-Blanc for me fresh and light, not very exciting short finish
OK wine not offensive 13/20


Mezzek White Soil
Katarzyna Winery
2009
Alcohol 13.5%
375ml
10 Lev / £4.45
Grape Chardonnay

TN
Colour, light shade of gold..
Nose, Lemon, peachy fresh and fruity
Taste, tropical fruity balance with a warm spicy finish, reasonable length very crisp and fresh.
Lovely wine 17/20




Reds

Mavrud Assenovgrad
Assenovgrad Winery
2007
Alcohol 13%
75cl
16 Lev / £7.25
Grape Mavrud 100%

Colour, Very light almost Beaujolais looking no change to rim.
Nose, Fresh ripe red berries
Taste, No or little tannins very soft and ripe red currant / cherry fruit.
First red and very enjoyable 16/20


Grand Selection Teri Wine
Terra Tangra
2006
Alchol 14%
75cl
23 Lev / £11.00
Grape Merlot 65% Cabernet Sav 30% and Cab Franc 5%

Colour, ruby red.
Nose, ripe red/black berries
Taste, bold fruit start from the start, good legth will improve with time, tannins are getting softer. (Teri said)
A good example again, I really did enjoy the reds on this holiday !! 16/20


Chateau Windy Hills
The Thrace Plain Region
2005
Alcohol 13%
75cl
19 Lev / £8.50
Grape Merlot

Colour, dark red and rubby with a little orange/brown edge.
Nose, sweet vanilla with fruit
Taste, A lovely balanced wine from vanilla to soft peppery raisin /damson, good length too !!
Fantastic wine for the money 18/20


Gorchivka Jubilee Selection
Svishtov Superior
2004
Alcohol 12.5%
75cl
35 Lev / £16.00
Grape Cabernet Sauvignon (hand picked)

Colour, deep rich red turning brown to the rim
Nose, sweet ripe berry
Taste, A lovely complexed wine with well intergrated tannins, soft vanilla and plum/blackberry friut which lasted forever.
Another Fantastic red but expensive so the score reflects this 17/20


Enira Teri wine
2007
Alcohol 14.5%
75cl
18 Lev / £8.75
Grape Merlot 75% Cabernet Sav 15% Syrah 10%

Colour, deep rich red turning brown to the rim
Nose, sweet ripe berry with vanilla coming through.
Taste, Another lovely complexed wine with well intergrated tannins, soft vanilla and damson/blackberry/blackcurrant fruit with great length.
Another Fantastic red and my favorite of all on this holiday 19/20


Santa Sarah Bin 40
2008
Alcohol 13.5%
75cl
28 Lev / £12.80
Grape Cabernet Sauvignon

Colour, Purple
Nose, Blackberry
Taste, Very tight/acid and plenty of tannin, short finish needs another 10 years.
Too young, should mature into a decent wine 13/20


Chateau De Val Teri Wine
2009
Alcohol
75cl
17 Lev / £8.00
Grape Syrah

Colour, Purple
Nose, closed nose some black friut trying to get out.
Taste, Very tight no real friut coming through very closed and short, lost interest and didn’t make any notes .
Not sure where this wine is going and how it might develop ?? 13/20


Chateau Karnobat
2009
Alcohol 13%
75cl
26 Lev / £12.00
Grape Syrah

Colour, deep red almost thick to look at.
Nose, ripe cherry, ground pepper and wood burner smokey edge.
Taste, juicy ripe cherry/damson with good length idea with our Mexican food.
A straight forward no nonsense deep / heavy Syrah 15/20

Really enjoyed exploring a country I knew little about and have been amazed by the quality of the wines I tried.

Regards
Richard


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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

great notes there Richard and well done for making it back in one piece (skiing and drink a hazardous combo ! )

Glad to see that there are other decent Bulgarian wines out making themselves known now. Watch this space people.....

Little disappointed you didn't get to try the EM Pinot Nero as would have liked to hear the opinion of someone else on this site
I think I might have to say that at 9.99 UK price (think it's half that in it's home land tho) it's the best budget PN I've encountered so far in terms of gracefulness and elegance

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Richard, your photos are not making it onto this page. Well, you can see that....for yourself.

You will need to find a free host and upload them to their domain, then choose a gallery name for these Bulgarian pics, then paste that gallery URL to this page.

Glad to see that Bulgarian Cab and Mavrud are still quite good. Lots of work with those TNs Richard, cheers for that.

When Majestic 1st started out at the end of the 70's, maybe '79, they bought a defunct Heron Petrol Service station on the way into Oxford city, on one of the bypass routes, and converted it to a very basic box stacking mini warehouse. Praps Ba only, may remember buying fuel at Heron. Gerald Ronson's chain of Heron S. stations started to fall over from '79 onwards. Loan gearing I think + hykes in the rates, and falling margin.

Anyway, Vinipex were the organisation that bought Bulgarian wines into play in the UK. It was quite good stuff, and really cheap then, cos Sterling was quite strong. The Cab was always at least 3 years maturing before it arrived, and was very acceptable. The Mavrud about 5 years and more variable. The Mavrud was a wee bit soft, and a cloudy wine, low acidity, but I don't remember the tanins to be that lame. Way back, it was oaked to firm it up.

Moving along:

I've still to try Shezz's EM pinot noir discovery.......But Shez ! I have forgotten this wine's full name, and where you can find it.

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Duncan

Hi,

I am terrible at loading photos etc !!
Will attempt again it was only one photo though.

I am ordering 3 mixed cases this week as I was very impressed and as you state you never see anything in stores now.


Mel, whats your experience with Bulgarian reds ??

Regards
Richard

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

Not recent and previously not good. Don't come across them much.

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mel

Mel,

That was my guess, but in your circle/job I thought there might have been an event some where recently.

There has been alot of investment in the wine business in the last 7/8 years in Bulgaria so hopefully will appear again in the UK in the next few years. There is still value to be had unlike some producers/regions of France.

Richard

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

This was it:Eduardo Miroglio PN. Now going for £12.50

Swig also have this Pn they they claim is very decent at 8.95 which I think is produced by EM but is their cheaper wine

A quick google of either looking at Bulgarian sites will give you an idea of what they cost in their homeland (and how much cheaper it is!)

Thanks Shez, I think that dreadfull label put me off when I 1st saw this wine - Can't remember where though, but it weren't £12.50 ! Must try it......however, I dont think I will mistake the wine for Chambolle 1er

Yeah, that reserve Cab and Mavrud we were taking in '79 & '80 for a few years was the best stuff and still dirt cheap. Bulgaria wanted the currency, it was shipped through the relaxed Yugoslavia due to the start of glasnost and perestroika. Then after they got a foothold, the students bought the cheaper stuff. This before Chilean cab took-over. After that, Bulgarian cab went downhill, and the Bulgarian middle class bought the better wines for a growers premium (no logistical costs) in their own country.

As Mel says, in the last two decades these reds have been pretty naff, I have not bought any for at least 25 years. No contest with firm Chilean, and bold Oz cab and merlot, and then shiraz taking over that UK market.

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Duncan

I have 1 bottle of the EM PN left. saving it for later this year but the last couple of bottles I tried were pretty decent altho I don't have enough experience with Burgundy to be able to compare

You can't argue with that. Shez, I'm surprised you're not keeping it a bit longer. I bet there is little of the '07 left for UK buyers. And since you and I are looking to see if these will acquire the illusive secondary flavours for NW - that would be another year gone - A bit early ?

Thanks for the reminder.

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Duncan

having googled, I've ffound that a localish IWM sells the 07 for around £11.60 so will check they still have stock and if so may drink up sooner to see whether its still worth investing in some more

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=776865

Quite liked by others, and not expensive.

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Duncan

Dunc,

Thanks for the link. My friend Andrew posted a note is there nothing he hasnt tried !!

I am ordering this week mainly the Enira range plus fizz.
Anyone who wants to bolt on let me know by end of play today.

Richard

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

Prices as above + shipping ?

Sheza,

Shipping is a little expensive from Bulgaria it works out at £20.00 per six case.
I hope to reduce this by ordering 3/4 cases.

Let me know.
Regards
Richard

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.