Wine Review: Domaine Bessa Valley Petit Enira 2011

It's the Fifth Annual Bulgarian Wine Month thanks to BulgarianWine.com! You can read all of the content and reviews from Bulgarian Wine Month under the Bulgaria label.

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.

THRACIAN WARRIOR
by Rocio Espin Pinar

The Bessi were a tribe of Thacians and the Bessa Valley within the Thracian Valley of the Thracian Lowlands is their namesake. Bessa Valley Winery was founded in 2001 when 800 properties were purchased for its creation. German Count Stephan von Neipperg, owner of Bordeaux's Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere and La Mondotte, assists with the winery's production. The Count wanted to be a part of bringing quality wine back to Bulgaria. He's quoted as saying "I’ve chosen Bulgaria because of the magnificent terroir. With Enira we revive the image of the Bulgarian wines worldwide."

I've got three wines by Domain Bessa Valley lined up to finish off Bulgarian Wine Month! First it's their Petit Enira 2011 (which I'm reviewing right now), then it's their Enira 2009, and sweeping it all up will be their Enira 2010.

So the Peitit Enira is obviously a lower tier of Enira, and what we've got here for the 2011 vintage is 70% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 5% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are hand-picked, then carefully selected on sorting tables. Cold maceration of whole berries is performed from three to five days at 57-60ºF in order to reach desired color and fruits flavors. Alcohol fermentation with addition of selected yeast strains is controlled at 79-82ºC during eight to ten days, followed by maceration from five to eight days in concrete tanks. Malolactic fermentation continues in tanks, then it's aged for about ten to twelve months in French oak barrels (30% two years-old, 70% three-years old).

The color of the wine is a dark ruby red. There's aromas of black cherries, raisins, anise, cigarette tobacco, and mud. Truly, it's got an awesome nose. But even the interesting flavors of black cherries, raisins, dark chocolate, and root beer can't hide that the mouthfeel, tannin, and acidity aren't what they used to be. It's starting to slip with age. The finish is a bit boozy but the root beer completely takes over in flavor with some Welch's grape juice enough to handle it well, and a nice earthiness gets kicked up, so the finish is another aspect of the wine that I enjoy.

The regular price of this wine is $21 but you can get it right now (at the publication of this review) on sale for $15 at BulgarianWine.com! And at this point in its shelf life it's really not worth the regular price of $21, but it's still good and $15 is the Momma Bear price of juuuuust right. Think about taking advantage of the sale and purchasing the wine here: https://bulgarianwine.com/wines/petite-enira-2011/

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $15

Rating: 3/5 = Satisfying (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was provided free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.