Wine a Day

This week I was lucky enough to be in Barcelona, attending a wine and tourism conference hosted by Wine Pleasures. I have already written about the great people who were there. It was a new experience for me to mingle with people of the wine and travel industries; it was good to meet people who are passionate about these two activities!

As well as the people, the food we were able to try was great. I will never get tired of Iberian ham, paella, potato tortilla and great fresh seafood on offer in Spain. There were also quite a few wine tastings on offer at the conference. Many Spanish wineries were keen to show some of the great products they are producing, and they were all great. On thing did pop out at me in the program of the conference however, a Bulgarian wine tasting. I have not had the pleasure of tasting wine from this country before. I have been hearing lots of good things about the wines coming out of the former Eastern Block countries, so I was eager to try something new.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is focused on the 2005 Unique Mavrud from the Pamidovo winery. The tasting was hosted by the importers of Bulgarian wine into Spain. They were entertaining and passionate about the wines. The 2005 Mavrud from Pamidovo was the best of their selection in my opinion. The Mavrud grape is only found in the Thrace region of Bulgaria. I think they have been keeping it a secret for too long though. The deep red, almost purple colour caught the eye, but it was not a surprise because Mavrud, the name of the grape, is thought to derive from the Greek mavros – meaning black. The smell coming from the glass is forest fruity with some fig in there as well. This all made me lick my lips and want to have a taste. The same fruitiness comes through when drinking it, along with a spicy finish that would make it go very well with red meat dishes. Its look, smell and taste make it seem far heavier than its 13% alcohol content.

Now that I have had a sample of Bulgarian wine, I will be looking out for more. This wine is pretty good value at around 10 to 15 euro. There are many to compete with it at this price range, but I think the unique grape and big flavor will make it hold its own. If you see it in the store, give it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised as well.