Description

The grapes for our Merlot Reserve 2020 are from an excellent harvest of the vineyard Tenkata Pateka, near the village of Levunovo, in the Sandanski region. The vineyard is about 50-year old, growing on leached cinnamon-sandy soils. The vineyard is located on a hilly terrain not far from the banks of the Struma River, on the other side of the Kozhuh hill (the remains of the old vulcano surrounding Rupite). The climate is continental with a Mediterranean influence entering along the river valley from south. Summers are very hot and dry. In August 2020, however, on the 20th and 25th, about 10 liters of rain fell per square meter, which is absolutely unusual and contributed to the excellent ripening of the grapes. Classical fermentation was carried out without pre-maceration. The wine is aged for one year in French 228-liter oak barrels from the Troncais forests /second year/. The aim is to show the terroir characteristics of the Merlot variety from the Sandanski region, which are different from those of Merlot variety in Sakar and Stambolovo, the other two areas of Bulgaria where Merlot has been grown traditionally. Harvest date: August 30, 2020 / Bottling date: January 6, 2022 / Alcohol: 14.9 vol.% / Total acidity: 6.8 g/l / 1350 bottles