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Sunday, August 6, 2017

Wine Review: Domaine Boyar Selection Muscat 2015 & Tcherga Thracian Valley Red 2013

August is The Third Annual Bulgarian Wine Month thanks to BulgarianWine.com

Domaine Boyar Selection Muscat 2015 & Tcherga Thracian Valley Red 2013

For the third year in a row, it's Bulgarian Wine Month thanks to BulgarianWine.com! Check out the reviews from the first year (2015)the second year (2016), and this year (2017).

To read about the fascinating history of Bulgarian wine, check out Bulgaria - Part 1: Three-Thousand Years of Wine History. To learn about the grapes, wine regions and Bulgarian wine's place in the market, read Part 2: The Current State of Bulgarian Wine. And if you'd like to see what Bulgaria's national drink is all about, find out in Part 3: Invincibility of Rakia.

A few days ago I revisted two new vintages of Domain Boyar varietals that I reviewed a few years ago. One did a little better and one did a lot worse, but in my experience the only thing that Domaine Boyar does really well is Merlot. Today I'll be trying their Muscat, and then moving onto a different brand: Tcherga by Domain Menada.

DOMAINE BOYAR SELECTION MUSCAT 2015

You probably know Muscat better by its more common name here in the States; Moscato. Usually, when referred to as Moscato (its Italian name), it's going to be sweet. But not all wine made from the grape is sweet, and this is one of them. With a 12.5% ABV, this is going to be much drier than Moscato. Those guys come in anywhere between 5% to 7% in ABV, leaving much more residual sugar in the bottle.

What makes this even more interesting is that Muscat is the grape that is used to make the vast majority of Bulgaria's famous spirit rakia. So I'm looking forward to trying some Bulgarian Muscat!

The color of the wine is a straw yellow. On the nose there's mangoes, peaches and honey. It has a medium body, low acidty, and a slick mouthfeel. There's flavors of mangoes, apples and cilantro, finishing with those same apples and cilantro. I'm really diggin' this Muscat, man. It's exactly what I was envisioning in my head for a dry Bulgarian Muscat, and I'd love to one day drink some with a bowl of Black Sea mussels.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $11
Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)


TCHERGA THRACIAN VALLEY RED 2013

This red blend is produced by Domain Menada and it contains 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Mavrud (native Bulgarian varietal), and 20% Merlot. It has an ABV of 13.5%. I actually really like the tacky label.

The color of the wine is ruby red. The dark stewed fruit and herbs from the Mavrud are immediately noticeable on the nose, as well as an alluring earthiness. It's plums and blackberries and black olives, tarragon and vanilla, and wet sand and sawdust. Damn, that's a nice nose. The wine has a medium body, sweet tannin, and quiet acidity. On the palate it's the same plums, blackberries, black olives, tarragon, vanilla, wet sand and sawdust. However, while reviewing, I acted on my instinct that these flavors would be more expressive with a slight chill. And I was correct.

I enjoyed this wine, and I'd take it any day over many of the wines floating in  the ocean of $11 Cali blends flooding the market right now.

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $11
Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottles used were supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.

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2 comments:

  1. Such a wonderful wine! Where we can buy them?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wines are available for purchase online at:
    http://www.bulgarianwine.com

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

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