The Best Bulgarian Wines to Try

The best Bulgarian wines come from grapes most wine lovers have never met: Mavrud, Melnik, Rubin, Gamza, Dimyat and Misket. Bulgaria also makes very good Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Here are the 12 wines I'd try, red and white, what each one tastes like, the estates and bottles to find, and how to pick a good bottle in Sofia.

The best Bulgarian wines at a glance

The best Bulgarian red wines

1. Mavrud

Mavrud is a native grape that has been part of the country's wine identity since ancient times, and its home is the country around Plovdiv in the Thracian Valley. The name comes from the Greek word mavro, black, after its deep blue-black skins, and the grape likes warm weather and ripens late.

A good Mavrud is medium-bodied with firm tannins and fresh acidity, and it tastes of cherries, prunes, mulberries and dark chocolate with a spicy, herbal finish. If you drink Malbec, a lightly oaked Mavrud will feel familiar, down to the magenta rim in the glass. Producers often blend it with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

The Mavruds I'd look for are Rumelia's Merul Mavrud from Panagyurishte, with dried fruit, dates and spice; the Bulgarian Heritage Mavrud Reserve from Izba Karabunar; and the Mavrud of Villa Yustina in the Yakata area west of Plovdiv. On a trip to Plovdiv, this is the wine to order at dinner.

2. Broad-leaved Melnik

When Bulgarians say "Melnik wine", they usually mean Shiroka Melnishka Loza, the Broad-leaved Melnik. It is an ancient, late-ripening grape that grows almost only in the southwest, around the towns of Melnik, Petrich and Sandanski in the Struma Valley, where the valley opens toward the Aegean and the growing season runs long and warm.

Broad-leaved Melnik is tannic and built to age. Young, it tastes of cherries, strawberries and stone fruit; after some years in the bottle it turns to tar, leather and spice. It is known as Winston Churchill's favorite wine, and it is the one to buy if you want a bottle that will keep.

The estates of the Struma Valley are Villa Melnik, Orbelus and Medi Valley. A trip to Melnik lets you taste it in the town that gave the grape its name.

3. Melnik 55

Melnik 55, also called Early Melnik, is a cross between Broad-leaved Melnik and the French grape Valdiguié. It is picked very early in the harvest: in 2016, Orbelus brought its Early Melnik in on 10 August. Like its parent, it grows almost only in the Struma Valley.

The wines are elegant and peppery, with strawberry, blackberry and black pepper, and sometimes a savory note like soy sauce. Blended with other grapes, Melnik 55 gives bold tannins; on its own it is much lighter, closer to a Gamay from Beaujolais. It goes well with red meat and charcuterie.

Orbelus makes the bottle to look for, Hrumki, a blend of Merlot, Early Melnik, Syrah, Marselan and Grenache that changes from vintage to vintage. Its name means "whim", and it is fresh despite 14.5% alcohol. The same southwest also grows Melnik 1300, a newer cross of Broad-leaved Melnik and Saperavi.

4. Rubin

Rubin is a Bulgarian cross of Nebbiolo and Syrah, bred at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology in Pleven in the 1940s. It ripens fairly early, is very resilient, and took off with winemakers from the late 1950s. Many producers blend it with Mavrud for structure and color.

Rubin tastes of plums and herbs, from sweet strawberry to blackberry, with hints of coffee and firm tannins. It shows best with age, when the fruit opens up and the tannins soften, the way an aged Nebbiolo does.

For a bottle, look for H's Rubin from Harlambievi near Pleven, the town where the grape was bred, with fresh cherry, mulberry and blueberry, clove and black pepper. I'd drink it with anything off the grill.

5. Gamza

Gamza, known elsewhere as Kadarka, is an old Balkan grape that prefers the cooler northwest of Bulgaria, on the Danube Plain. It makes light, aromatic reds with tart berry fruit, a savory, herbal side and a touch of black pepper and baking spice, in the style of a Barbera or an Oregon Pinot Noir.

Bottles to look for: Vidinska Gamza's Traditions Gamza from Novo Selo, made from old, own-rooted vines, macerated for 30 days and aged two years in old French oak, with poppy, rhubarb and raspberry; and the Gamza from Borovitza, near the Belogradchik Rocks, where the winery keeps old Gamza vines alive.

6. Bulgarian Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc grows very well in Bulgaria's moderate climate, and it is the international grape I'd pick here over Cabernet Sauvignon. It is late-picked, harvested around mid-October in the Thracian Lowlands, and it gives cassis, red paprika, black currant, mint and cherry.

Eolis makes the one I'd hunt for: its Cabernet Franc is aged 15 months in 400-liter French oak, and it was €11 ex-cellar in 2018, with only 800 bottles made. Also look for Angel's Estate Deneb Cabernet Franc from Sliven, Seven Generations Cabernet Franc and the Cabernet Franc Private Reserve from Bratanov in South Sakar, which was €35 ex-cellar in 2018.

7. Bulgarian Syrah and red blends

The Thracian Valley and Sakar make big, structured reds from Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, often blended with Mavrud or Rubin. They are the bottles I'd pick for a celebration dinner.

Start with Bessa Valley, the estate between the Rhodope Mountains and the Maritsa River set up with the help of Bordeaux owner Stephan von Neipperg, whose Enira and Grande Cuvée blend Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon; Rossidi's Syrah from high, north-facing vineyards, with tar, licorice and a wet-stone texture; Bratanov's South Sakar Selection Merlot and Syrah, smoky and peppery; The Firebird, a 100% Syrah from pianist and winemaker Ivo Varbanov; and Villa Yambol's Bolyarovo Cabernet Sauvignon.

For something stranger, Borovitza's Ogy's Legacy blends Bouquet, Gamza, Evmolpia, Rubin and Cabernet Franc, several of them crosses bred in socialist times.

The best Bulgarian white wines

8. Dimyat

Dimyat is Bulgaria's most planted native white grape, grown almost only in Bulgaria and mostly near the Black Sea, where it does well on steep limestone slopes. It is related to Chardonnay through a shared ancestor, and it makes light, fresh, aromatic wines with apricot, quince and apple blossom. Most Dimyat is drunk young, with appetizers, though some styles develop vanilla notes with age.

DeVina's The Visitor is the Dimyat to find: dry, with white peach, quince and flowers. It is the bottle I'd open on the Black Sea coast.

9. Red Misket

Red Misket, or Misket Cherven, is a native grape that makes white wine: the "red" refers only to the pinkish skin. It is dry, aromatic and a little salty, like a dry Moscato, with mandarin, rose water, lime and Thai basil, and a finish of dried pineapple or mango. Its acidity is low, so it is often blended with a crisper grape.

I'd order Red Misket as an aperitif, or with a salad or seafood.

10. Tamianka

Tamianka is the Bulgarian name for Muscat Blanc, and the name comes from its scent of incense. The wines are aromatic, with roses, tropical fruit, bergamot and spice, and they are often off-dry. A single-vineyard Tamianka from South Sakar is the flagship of Bulgaria's aromatic whites.

Look for Bogdaya's Tsventitsa Vineyard Tamianka from the Struma Valley, with lychee and guava, and the 100% Tamianka from Bratanov in South Sakar.

11. Varnenski Misket

Varnenski Misket is a Bulgarian cross of Dimyat and Riesling, grown in the northeast near Varna. It is aromatic like the Muscat family, with stone fruit, melon and candied lemon.

Staro Oryahovo, a small family winery just south of Varna that planted its first vines in 2010 and made its first wine in 2013, makes White Story, at 12% alcohol. Varna Winery, a white-wine specialist on the coast, makes a Varnenski Misket too.

12. Bulgarian Chardonnay, Riesling and orange wine

Bulgarian Chardonnay is often made unoaked, fresh and fruity with apple, pineapple and good acidity. The estates below push white grapes further, with skin contact, concrete eggs and Bulgarian oak.

Bottles to look for: Rossidi's orange Gewürztraminer, a month on the skins and eight months on the lees, with marmalade and orange zest; Rossidi's Chardonnay fermented in a concrete egg; Poissons D'Or, an Ivo Varbanov Chardonnay aged in 600-liter Bulgarian oak; Orelek from Orbelus, a Chardonnay and Viognier blend from an organic winery founded in 2009; the Chardonnay of Chateau Burgozone on the Danube; and Bratya Minkovi's Enoteca Riesling from Silistra.

How to pick a good Bulgarian wine

Start with the grape and the producer. The two official regions on most labels, Thracian Valley and Danube Plain, each cover half the country, so they tell you little. A smaller place name like Melnik or Sakar is a better sign, and "Reserve" means the wine spent 6 to 18 months in oak and 6 months in the bottle.

The grape and the region together tell you most of the style. A Mavrud from the Thracian Valley, a Gamza from the northwest and a Dimyat from the Black Sea are the classic matches, and the wider map of Bulgarian wine follows the same logic: reds in the south and southwest, more whites in the north and east. The other Bulgarian grape varieties, like Pamid, Gergana and Sandanski Misket, are worth a glass when a wine bar has them open.

Pair the wine with the food on the table: the reds with roast and grilled meat, the whites with salads, fish and appetizers. Most of these dishes are on the menu of any restaurant serving Bulgarian food.

Where to buy and taste Bulgarian wine in Sofia

For a guided start, Coupage Wine and Cheese, a few blocks off Slaveykov Square, pours wines from smaller Bulgarian producers with Bulgarian cheese and charcuterie, and Tempus Vini runs tastings too. For a glass or a bottle, Wine Generator, Phine, Vineria, Wine & Co and Grape Central are the names among Sofia's wine bars and shops.

Most Bulgarian wine never leaves the country: about 80% of it is drunk at home. If the bottle you liked at dinner is not exported, buy it in Sofia. The same grapes also end up in a glass of rakia: grozdova, made from grapes, is the most common kind in Bulgaria.