Melnik Vineyard Route & Bulgarian Wines - Part 1

Melnik is a tiny town with a population of only 300, located in the Struma Valley in southwestern Bulgaria, which we could describe as Bulgaria's equivalent of Sirince. The most notable feature of this town, where you'd find more people per randomly selected square meter in Istanbul, is that the surrounding region has a very suitable microclimate and soil structure for viticulture.

While the Melnik region had focused on what we could only describe as simple table wines for many years, especially in recent years, with incentives from the European Union, it has acquired many chateau-style production wineries. During our 2 trips to this region in 2022 and 2023, we had the chance to discover the region's touristic richness while also tasting its beautiful wines. One of the biggest advantages for us was that wine prices in the region were more affordable compared to both Turkish and European standards. The existence of many different grape varieties unique to the region also greatly attracted us.

Let's also add as a rather interesting historical fact that Melnik wines were a favorite of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 🙂

This region, located only 4 hours and 30 minutes from the Ipsala Border Crossing, is home to more than 20 wineries.

Here are our notes on the wineries we had the chance to visit and the region's natural beauties (Click to add to Google Maps):

Rupel Winery

Wine tasting is free, but you need to make a reservation before going. We went without a reservation, but luckily they were already conducting a tasting for a different group and accepted us as well. You can taste all the wines they have open. The reds we had the chance to taste were generally aged between 5-8 years, and their prices were quite affordable for their quality. The whites, however, weren't performing very well. Our general recommendation would be, if you have enough time in the region, to stop by as a secondary priority and focus mainly on the reds.

Orbelus Winery

With its building designed in the shape of a wine barrel, Orbelus is definitely one of the most interesting wineries on the Melnik Vineyard Route. Unfortunately, this winery doesn't offer English wine tasting commentary, but at least they have an English menu so we can choose the tasting we want. Options include a 3-wine tasting for 7 EUR, 4-wine tasting for 8 EUR, and 5-wine tasting for 11 EUR; the price includes a winery tour, though again without English commentary 🙂 If you choose the 5-wine tasting, you can also select from their higher-tier wines. One of the best things about tasting here is that they let you completely choose which wines you want to taste. Thanks to this option, you can customize your tasting according to your personal curiosity and preferences. Having first visited Orbelus in 2022, it didn't disappoint us on our 2023 visit either. While our 2022 tasting set primarily featured the 2015-2016 vintages, in 2023 we decided to go a bit wild and opted for older vintages, tasting from 2013-2014. Compared to our tastings from the previous year (2015-2016), we found the wines from older vintages (2013-2014) to have slightly passed their prime. Therefore, when putting together your tasting set, we recommend creating a mixed set with newer vintages rather than selecting the oldest ones. When comparing prices with other wineries in the region, Orbelus stands out as the winery with the best price-to-performance ratio.

Zlaten Rozhen Winery

One of the largest producers in the region, with a classic car museum next to the winery. Their tasting menus range from a 3-wine tasting for 7 EUR to a 5-wine tasting for 9 EUR; if you combine the tasting with the car museum visit, prices become more affordable. Since our time was limited, we couldn't visit the car museum. We really liked their wines, and visiting this producer again on our next trip to also see the car museum is definitely in our plans. Unlike the first 2 wineries we visited, their tasting menu features newer vintage and more affordable wines. Despite this, we found the overall flavor performance of their wines to be high. We especially loved their white wine made from Sandanski Misket and the rose wines made from Shiroka Melnishka, the local grape of the Melnik region. The strong performance of their affordable wines definitely gives courage to try their premium wines as well.

Villa Melnik

A very enjoyable winery where you can have both the tasting and winery tour in English. We paid 10 EUR per person for a 5-wine tasting and winery tour. Although it looks quite modest from the outside, in terms of content, Villa Melnik was definitely the most original, and in terms of presentation, the place we were most satisfied with. In the winery's technical design, they've tried to make the most of the ground level differences and gravity. Their natural underground cellars are absolutely magnificent, truly breathtaking. We can say we had the most original wines from the Melnik region here. They have a premium series called Rare Varieties where they process the original grapes of the Melnik region as single varietals. We had the chance to taste one in the tasting menu, and it became one of our most liked wines throughout our entire Melnik adventure. What impressed us most at this winery was definitely the attention and care of the tasting expert. By understanding which grape varieties interested us most from the questions we asked during the winery tour, they created a special tasting set for us. Additionally, they offered us the rose wine for free as an extra, increasing our wine tasting set to 6, fulfilling our desire to try a different wine instead of rose. With both the enchanting atmosphere of its cellar and the professionalism of the tasting, Villa Melnik was the place we left happiest.

Baba Vanga's Grave

In our search for touristic activities in the region, the complex housing Baba Vanga's grave and the house she used to live in always came up first. When we looked at its photos on Google Maps, it didn't look very appealing, but since 1,500 people had given it a 4.8+ rating, we decided to give it a chance. Despite going with prejudice due to comments mostly like "a very spiritual area, very high energy," we left this place feeling peaceful. As a couple who doesn't really believe in cosmic energy and such, we quite enjoyed every moment of our tour starting from the moment we parked the car. We noted it as a place that everyone passing through the region should visit without prejudice. The biggest contribution of this place to us was the homemade fruit wines made by street vendors located just before the entrance to the complex. While we were amazed by the flavor of the wines we tried, we didn't forget to take home our favorite wine, the fig wine. You never know where great wine will come from 🙂

Melnik Town Center

Melnik is known as Bulgaria's smallest town. It felt like a miniature version of Sirince to us. In this tiny town of approximately 300 people, there are many historical artifacts and traditional historic houses from the Ottoman period. When you've come to the wine route, you can't leave without visiting this tiny town. It's also possible to taste wines at the shops selling wine, but the ones offered for free tasting are generally at table wine level. Although we couldn't visit the Kordopulov House and its cellars on this trip, we've already added it to our list for our next visit.

General Comments and Notes

Our general observations and different insights about Melnik wines:

• The Sandanski Misket grape is similar in style to our Bornova Misketi. We liked it a lot at every place we tasted. It was the white grape that appealed to us the most in the region.
• As a couple who normally doesn't love rose wine, we fell in love with the rose wines made from Shiroka Melnishka at 2 different wineries. It has elegant aromas on the nose and quite rich aromas on the palate. This grape should definitely be processed for this purpose. Since these were the last 2 wineries we visited, we couldn't try different examples, but we've noted to taste similar ones on our future trips.
• Many sub-clones have been produced by crossbreeding from the Shiroka Melnishka (Broad-leaved Melnik) grape unique to the Melnik region. For example, the Melnik 82 grape was created through crossbreeding with Cabernet Sauvignon. There are a total of 6 different varieties. There's a whole different world waiting to be discovered.

• Although the Mavrud grape is common in Bulgaria, only one winery in this region processes it, and they made the decision to process it because of a very specific compatibility in the parcel they work with. However, Mavrud is definitely more successful in its own region.
• There are wines with various fancy bottles sold in markets, shaped like cups and other forms. It's purely a marketing tactic, with terrible wines inside. You can buy it for the bottle if you want, but definitely skip what's inside 🙂

• In Melnik, whites have traditionally always been made as orange wine. Villa Melnik has continued this tradition and started producing wines in the same style for several years. Over time, feedback from tourists visiting the region indicated that these wines were too harsh for regular drinking. Villa Melnik's oenologist then softened this style in newer vintages. Although we were quite curious about the mentioned harshness in older vintages, experiencing the harshness in the newer vintages was more than enough for us. 🙂

Favorite Wines

Our most favorite wines were:

1. Zlaten Rozhen, Sandanski Misket, 2022, White: Spring flowers from the Muscat grape are prominent on the nose. The same aroma profile on the palate, complemented with high alcohol and acidity. A balanced and beautiful white. 7.5
2. Villa Melnik, Rare Varieties, Melnik 82, 2019, Red: Despite being young, this was definitely the best Melnik clone example we tasted. A wine with high fruitiness, noticeable tannins, and a strong palate. Black fruits, dark chocolate, and the elegant touch of Bulgarian oak barrel are very impressive. We would very much like to taste it again after a few years. 7.4
3. Orbelus, Prima, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Early Melnik, Syrah, 2015, Red: A wine that preserves its fruitiness with an elegant barrel touch, with elegant tannins on the palate. Having different grape varieties has captured complexity on both the nose and palate. 7.3
4. Zlaten Rozhen, 41 Parallel, Shiroka Melnishka, Mourvedre, 2022, Rose: On the nose, both yellow fruits and rose-like scents. When tasting, the richness of aromas is felt, a rose that lingers on the palate for a long time. 7.3
5. Bonus: Fig Wine Sold at Baba Vanga Memorial Park Entrance. Whether it's the energy of the place or not, a wonderful, slightly sweet homemade wine that we absolutely loved drinking. 7.5

We really loved this region. It's clear that we'll be visiting it many times in the coming years due to its geopolitical location. Being able to frequently visit a region with such high-quality wines must be a wine-loving couple's good fortune. Until we meet again with more detailed explorations in the coming years, Melnik 🙂

And as we close our article, let's leave you with Baba Vanga's prophecies 🙂 https://www.biyografi.info/kisi/baba-vanga