Enira, Reserva, Bessa Valley, Bulgaria, 2018

Producer Profile

Count Stephan von Neipperg, owner of several famous Bordeaux properties, including Châteaux Canon La Gaffelière and La Mondotte, sought out the Bessa Valley where the wonderful clay-limestone soils showed him the potential to make great wines.

In the shadow of the dramatic Rhodope Mountains, these soils provide the structure, strength and minerality that allows Stephan to create wonderful wines that are full of power and elegance.

Viticulture

Bessa Valley is located on the hills between the Rhodope Mountains and Maritsa River. The climate is continental – hot summer and cold winter. The terroir is influenced by the river and the mountain. Rainfalls are at usual level. The soil in the Valley is loamy and clay-stony, mixed with limestone. The limestone rock is half a meter under the soil layer. 140 Hectares of vines are planted with Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaking

First selection is performed in the vineyard and only mature grapes are hand-picked, then carefully selected again at sorting tables. The philosophy is to ferment only good quality of grapes. The tanks are gravity filled without crushing the grapes. Cold maceration of whole berries takes 5 to 8 days at 10 - 12 ºC to achieve the desired colour and fruit extraction. Alcohol fermentation with the addition of selected yeast strains is controlled at 24-26 ºC for 8-10 days, in order to reach around 3-4 g/l residual sugar. Pump overs and pigeage are done in order to conduct slowly extraction from the grapes and achieve balance in wine. The hot maceration is carried out at 28- 30 ⁰C with the marcs followed by 10 to 15 days in temperature controlled concrete tanks. Malolactic fermentation continues in tanks and oak barrels, then ageing for about 18 months in oak barrels.

Oak Ageing

Time: 18 Months
Type: French New and 1 Year old Oak
% wine oaked: 100%
% new oak: 20

Tasting Note

A deep garnet colour. This is packed full of plum, black cherry, blueberry, violet, nuts, and chocolate on the nose. The palate is dense, round and harmonious. Full bodied but softness in the mouth show incredible balance owing to the fruits maturity and delicate oak impact. The finish is complex and very long.

Food Matching

Red meat and cheese.