You can read about the history of Bulgarian wine in "Part 1: Three-Thousand Years of Wine History" and read about what's going on with it today in "Part 2: The Current State of Bulgarian Wine".
Normally I can get carried away in my reviews and you'll end up reading an article on my opinion of something completely unrelated or something closely related to the wine being reviewed. But I've got A LOT of wine to review this month so I'm going to keep it quick and simple!
Domaine Boyar was established in 1991 and was the first private winery in Bulgaria to be founded after communism. Although the winery is based out of Sofia, all of the wines I'll be reviewing from them are from Thracian Valley. If I saw the label without a place of origin I'd guess they were from Chile, which is probably an intentional marketing strategy.
DOMAINE BOYAR SELECTION CHARDONNAY 2013
20% of this Chard was aged sur lie (on the lees) in stainless steel tanks for four months, and 80% did the same in oak barrels until malolactic fermentation was completed. Then it was racked, blended and stored in tanks until it was filtered and bottled. It has a 13% ABV. The cork is synthetic.
The color is light straw yellow. The nose is very Sauvignon Blanc-ish with lemon and grapefruit. It's not Chardonny-ish at all, and the palate continues with this theme. Where's that lees? Where's that oak? Where's that malo? It tastes like a friggin Sauvignon Blanc. What. The. Hell.
Yeah, you know what? It's actually pretty yummy but I've gotta give it a shitty score because if I bought this expecting a Chardonnay I'd be ripshit.
Why do people insist on making Chardonnay like this? There's NO point! WHY??? Make a Sauvignon Blanc if that's the profile you want! Buy a Sauvignon Blanc if that's the profile you want to drink! I'm angry now and honestly just want to break some shit.
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $11
DOMAINE BOYAR RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012
This Cabernet was aged in 40% French oak and 60% American oak for eight months. It has a 13% ABV and the cork is real cork.
The color is ruby red. Both the nose and palate are all about dark cherries, dark chocolate and mint. It's got a rich body and smooth tannin. Honestly, it reminds me of a Lodi style Cabernet more than anything.
It also tries to get away with the touch of sweetness that their Merlot has, but it just doesn't work the same because it doesn't have the right guts for it.
It's good and totally worth the money but it didn't impress me and it certainly didn't piss me off. So I gave it a 3 out of 5 on my price vs quality scale for "Satisfying".
DOMAINE BOYAR OVERVIEW
I still have to review Domaine Boyar's Mavrud, which will be on the last post in the Bulgaria review series, but so far overall Boyar didn't do so well... except for that amazing Merlot.
Reserve Merlot - 5/5 - Immense and thick. Brilliant.
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - 3/5 - Good Cabernet for the price.
Selection Traminer - 2/5 - One dimensional and gets boring quick.
Selection Chardonnay - 2/5 - Another Sauv Blanc flavored Chard.
YOU CAN BUY ALL OF THESE WINES ON BULGARIANWINE.COM
The bottles used were supplied free of charge by BulgarianWine.com for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
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