Wine-tasting, Bulgaria styleJan 25, 2009
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Lovely Bulgarian countryside
Fran overlooking the town of Melnik
Melnik wine cave
| 1/25/09 Psyched to try the famous Bulgarian wine, we rented a car and headed to Melnik, a tiny town close to the Greek border that reputedly produces the best wine in the country. The mountainous countryside afforded fantastic views, and the cozy town was chock-full of cute, white-washed and half timber houses stacked on cobbled streets around a tiny stream. Townfolk sold liters of the local fermented grape juice in plastic water bottles from little makeshift stands. Just sidle up, ask for a taste, and they hand you a sample of their wares in a lovely stemmed wineglass. How luxurious! Fran and I hiked up a hill to explore an established wine cave, and hung out inside sipping wine straight out of the barrel. The wines are made out of a local grape, the Melnik grape, and we found that we liked the rarer, drier style Melnik wines as opposed to the sweeter wines that characterize the area. Our hotel room was the most luxurious to date, with a little sitting area, TV, and all the amenities, in a hotel with a restaurant sporting a roaring fire in a stone-lined room. Too bad we only had the car for two days or we might never leave. |
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