Bratanov Winery Syrah Sans Barrique

Bratanov Winery is a small family-run project – the result of the hard work and devotion of a father and his sons, who have set out the honorable mission to restore the ancestral tradition. The foundations were set in 2006 with planting the 24 ha of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Rubin, Chardonnay and Tamianka.

The vineyards are situated on the sunny hills of South Sakar, nearby the village of Shishmanovo, Harmanli. This mystic mountain in South-Eastern Bulgaria is one of the best terroirs in Europe for growing red wine grapes. The Aegean Sea winds, penetrating through the Maritsa River Valley, provide for a transitional Mediterranean climate, with long hot summer and mild winter, usually no groundfrost. The region has one of the highest values of sunshine for Bulgaria. The soil types are mostly sandy-clay and maroon, slightly stony, with good permeability and structure.

Bratanov family follows the philosophy that the wines should reflect the spirit of their creators and the sunny terroir of South Sakar by applying minimal technological intervention and putting great attention to the quality of the grapes. Bratanov Winery is a founding member of the Bulgarian Association of Independent Winegrowers.

Syrah,

Thracian Lowlands is a wine region in the south of Bulgaria. It one of two PGI designations for Bulgarian wine recognized for export into the EU. The other is Danubian Plains.

The zone is very large, and so general comments regarding wine styles and growing conditions are very hard to make. In the west, on the Macedonian border, it includes the outlying region region of the Struma Valley. In the east it encompasses the southern half of the Black Sea region. Between the two sits the cental Thracian Lowlands.

East Thracia where Bratanov is siuated, is regarded as the fruit and vegetable center of the country. There are also many vineyards on the fertile soils in areas such as Stara Zagora, Nova Zagora and Korten.

100% Syrah

Aged for 9 months in neutral stainless steel vessels (from the French sans barrique – without oak) followed by 2 years in the bottles before being released on the market ready to drink.

Wild fermented using only indigenous yeast from the vineyard naturally existing on the skins of the grapes.

A complex nose with abundance of black pepper, plums, violets and cardamom. Full but at the same time smooth body with velvety tannins and a multi-layered taste profile with intense expression of spices, dark chocolate, black olives and ripe black fruits. Very long piquant finish.

Pairs excellently with Côte de boeuf, Game birds with fruit sauces, Wild mushroom risotto, Matured cheeses, Dark chocolate desserts

Nolan - This wine is a fine addition to lamb. I had mine with a "crusted" lamb shoulder. Slow roasted, smothered in Za'atar, sumac, clove, garlic, salt + pepper obviously, along with an almost absurd amount of toasted and freshly ground cumin and coriander seeds. All this on top of a bed of herbs, (mint, sage, oregano, the usual suspects), and some aromatic veggies, (more garlic).

This wine is plump, fruity and almost creamy. "Sans Barrique" meaning there is no oak blocking that bramble fruit and the natural syrah spice. Excellent wine!

On that "natural" thought though, this is a natural wine but would probably have members of the "natty wine" scene turn their noses up at it. The reason being, it is for want of a better word, clean. It tastes like a conventional wine. None of that farm yard funk of cow shit, no volatile acidity, just pure great and delicious wine.

This follows all the criteria for natural wine. It is dry farmed completely sustainably with only organic chemical treatments in the vineyard. It is fermented spontaneously using wild yeasts in small batches, there are only 5200 bottles produced per year! That's nowt! Sulphite use is also next to nothing, you will always get sulphites in a wine, they are a natural, (there's that word again), by-product of fermention.

What is natural wine then? Beats me! Surely wine is a cultural product not a "natural" product at any rate? Natural wine would just be rotten grapes on the vine or on the floor, enter a bowl or a jug or an amphora, (natty wine scene loves them), and there it is, you've already moved away from the wine being "natural" by adding culture.

C'est la vie, que syrah, syrah...drink this its fab.