In the years when I was a frequent face in Bulgaria, the wine region I liked most was Melnik in the south-west of the country, just north of the Greek border at Fort Roupel. It was the hottest region in Bulgaria and centred on the Struma Valley. Surrounded by steep mountains, the hillside vineyards were unsuitable for the collective kolkhoz treatment meted out on the plains south of the Balkan Range, where quantity had triumphed over quality. The eponymous broad-leaved Melnik cultivar was interesting, not least because it was not one of the international “Mac” varieties favoured in many places elsewhere. There was also a variation in the “Melnik 55”, a hybrid grape created in 1963, which had an advantage over its parent for being an early-ripener.
And Melnik was my kind of town too. It had been spared much of the abuse handed out by the country’s communist masters who were apt to scatter the land with concrete factories and smoking power-stations. By 2000 many of these had stopped smoking and were rusting instead. Beneath the steep cliffs that surrounded Melnik, the place was higgledy-piggledy and many of the houses gave the appearance of having been built by the Ottomans, with their overhanging upper storeys built out over rubble-stone ground floors. They were almost identical to many old houses in Turkey itself.
Latterly my guide to Melnik was Philip Harmandjiev, press baron, wine magazine publisher and owner of the large Damianitza estate. Indeed, Harmandjiev seemed to have his fingers in any number of pies. Damianitza was the former state-owned winery in Melnik and pretty well the sole voice of the appellation the last time I went to Bulgaria.
Things have now changed out of all recognition. There are currently about a dozen estates making wine in the Struma Valley and I don’t know whether this is the result of better winemaking techniques or climate change – or both, but the wines are fuller and fruitier than I recall and some are really outstanding.
All the wines are available from www.theoldcellar.com. They are without exception remarkably good value for money.
First to the whites: Expressions makes a very good 2018 Sandanski Misket, one of two local green grapes. It has a proper muscatty bouquet of lemons and white peaches, making for an excellent dry muscat-style aperitif wine with a tickly acidity that renders it properly thirst-quenching.
The Libera winery produces a crisp, dry 2019 (Ottonel) Muscat with Sandanski Misket. This is a tremendous wine with an orange-like Muscat nose with nuances of mint and eucalyptus. It has wonderful length and power finishing with a lingering taste of fresh lemon peel.
I am generally a bit sceptical when it comes to ‘natural’, un-sulphured orange wines, but Libera’s 2019 Orange Keratsuda won me round. It had a pretty smell of apricots, but needed to be open for a while before it revealed its charms to the full. Keratsuda is the name of the other local indigenous green grape variety.
Now the reds: the 2018 VNYRD Melnik is made by the Damyanov family from their 50-year old vines. I liked it a bit less than some. It was similar to a hot-country Pinot Noir: not lacking in fruit, but short on finesse.
The 2018 Forest Nomad Nomad Spirit is a Bordeaux blend simply topped up with Melnik 55 and a pretty chunky wine too. It is strong (14.5) and tastes of morello cherries. It improved considerably with time, which filled out the nose and the tail, but it was never the subtlest of brews.
Orbelus was founded in 2000. It is named after Mount Pirin, which the ancient Thracians called Orbelus. There are now 20 hectares of vineyard (50 acres). The 2018 Mitra is a natural wine using Rubin and Struma Valley Melnik with a hefty 14.5 alcohol by volume. Rubin is a cross between Syrah of the Rhone Valley and Piedmontese Nebbiolo created at Pleven in Bulgaria in 1944. It has a slightly disappointing apple-like finish, but it would suit a barbecue for all that. It is quite sweet-tasting with lashings of raspberry and strawberry fruit and a chocolate-like texture.
The Orbelus organic 2018 Rubin is rich and chunky, and has a caramel-like character and plenty of raspberry fruit on the finish: another wine for roast meats.
Orbelus is not to be confused with Orbelia which evokes the Belasitsa Mountain. The 15-hectare estate was founded in 2013. Their 2019 Melnik rosé is a pretty salmon pink with an aroma of boiled sweets and a good bite, while the Melnik 55 is a great mouthful of cherries and raspberries with a big helping of cream and a spoonful of caramel: a really delicious wine that fully endorses my old faith in Melnik.
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