Bulgaria is Back
Posted by Daniel Stewart on October 28th, 2011
Great Uncle Bulgaria
Bulgaria; famous for weightlifting, a very recent and very short-lived property bubble and as the name of many people’s favourite Womble….
However go back to the 1980s and early 90s and internationally Bulgaria stood for affordable, easy drinking wines, made from familiar grapes such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
A series of bad financial choices, poor decisions regarding production and the rise of brand Australia brought the old Bulgarian wine industry to its knees.
Castra Rubra Winery
It has taken a while but over the last decade a totally new Bulgaria has arisen. While there are cheap and cheerful wines being made, the real excitement is around a number of top quality producers making wines that are truly world class.
One of these new wave sensations has just landed in Ireland: Castra Rubra.
The CR
Hailing from Thracia, a region with an important vinous history, the winery is state of the art and the vineyards pristine and carefully managed. However there is an instantly recognisable class and international feel to these wines and that is down to the signature of renowned French consultant; Michel Rolland. These are bold, ambitious, reds of great purity and layer upon layer of dark fruit backed by intelligent oak ageing.
Although the flagship wine (CR) can be compared to great St. Emilion and the Nimbus Pinot Noir has a brightness of fruit that would not be out of place is Central Otago these wines are still very unique. There is a distinct accent to these reds that could only be described as, well …Bulgarian.
Try something truly different this weekend – it’s the closest thing we have to Transylvanian wine! The Dominant is available to order here and the full range is already available in the following stores: Donnybrook Greystones, Rathmines, Ballybrack, The Beacon, Carrickmines, Galway, Malahide, Sandymount, Newbridge, Blanchardstown, Athlone, Limerick , Naas, Glasnevin and Blackrock.
October 31st, 2011 at 2:47 pm
This is great news for Bulgarians and Irish wine-lovers, comes as a reward to my continuous efforts to bring back the exquisite Bulgarian wines to the Irish consumer, after a more than a 15- year absence. Congratulations to the company, keep importing these fresh high-quality wines and you will not regret it.
Welcome and good luck to the Bulgarian wines !
Emil Yalnazov
Ambassador of Bulgaria to Ireland
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Well done for getting Telish to finally have representation here. They also have a fantastic range of Chateau Windy Hills, Reserve. Mayby our next documentary should look at vidiculture in all its glory. Bulgaria has a very strong tradition of this stretching back as far as 3rd century, Tracian times –
By the way – There was a Celtic kingdom resting in the heart of Bulgaria even then.
Perhaps the nicest tracian / Bulgarian wine I have tasted is the full bodied MAZZEK – More of that please.
Regards
Neil