Bulgaria: Misket Varnenski
I got to try a new grape variety today, Misket Varnenski. One of the down sides of traveling is that I have limited research resources with me. As far as I can tell this is a recent crossing of the widely planted white Bulgarian grape Dimiat and the ever popular Riesling.
The name certainly evokes Muscat, and the Varnenski either suggests or literally means "From Varna" (one of the famous beach towns of Bulgaria) but the wine I tried had nothing in common with the venerable Muscat grape. In fact it had nothing in common with Riesling for that matter. Perhaps it takes after Dimiat, I will have to search out a few examples and see for myself.
The wine I tried was from one of my favorite producers, so while there may well be better examples, I had high hopes. There was nothing wrong with the wine, there just was nothing special about it either.
I have an expression I use when I am speaking into my tape recording at wine tastings. It is designed to keep the winemakers or representatives from knowing exactly what I am saying. The term is NVNV and it stands for "no vice, no virtue."
That sums up this wine, and likely the grape from which it hails, perfectly.
It is not a bad little wine, it just has no real character. It tastes exactly like white wine, and save for a hint of dust in the nose and aftertaste has almost no specific flavors that I can find.
Why would a wine industry embrace such a grape? The usual, it grows well, it makes consistent wines, and it is probably cost efficient.
At least one technical report I found on the wine referred to its pleasant muscat like quality. I think the name fooled them into finding something that isn't there, or they had a far different example than the one I tried.
Am I bashing the grape? Not at all, it really is pleasant and that is saying more than a lot of other varieties can boast.
I have also read references to a red variety of Misket, I will keep my eyes open for it. Muscat also can be found in dark varieties, although as I said Muscat doesn't seem to be related to this grape variety (unless Dimiat is related to Muscat). They may well just be using the similar sounding name for marketing purposes.
If anyone has more information on this variety or Dimiat for that matter, please drop me a note or leave a comment.
Just one more vinous adventure in Bulgaria.
The name certainly evokes Muscat, and the Varnenski either suggests or literally means "From Varna" (one of the famous beach towns of Bulgaria) but the wine I tried had nothing in common with the venerable Muscat grape. In fact it had nothing in common with Riesling for that matter. Perhaps it takes after Dimiat, I will have to search out a few examples and see for myself.
The wine I tried was from one of my favorite producers, so while there may well be better examples, I had high hopes. There was nothing wrong with the wine, there just was nothing special about it either.
I have an expression I use when I am speaking into my tape recording at wine tastings. It is designed to keep the winemakers or representatives from knowing exactly what I am saying. The term is NVNV and it stands for "no vice, no virtue."
That sums up this wine, and likely the grape from which it hails, perfectly.
It is not a bad little wine, it just has no real character. It tastes exactly like white wine, and save for a hint of dust in the nose and aftertaste has almost no specific flavors that I can find.
Why would a wine industry embrace such a grape? The usual, it grows well, it makes consistent wines, and it is probably cost efficient.
At least one technical report I found on the wine referred to its pleasant muscat like quality. I think the name fooled them into finding something that isn't there, or they had a far different example than the one I tried.
Am I bashing the grape? Not at all, it really is pleasant and that is saying more than a lot of other varieties can boast.
I have also read references to a red variety of Misket, I will keep my eyes open for it. Muscat also can be found in dark varieties, although as I said Muscat doesn't seem to be related to this grape variety (unless Dimiat is related to Muscat). They may well just be using the similar sounding name for marketing purposes.
If anyone has more information on this variety or Dimiat for that matter, please drop me a note or leave a comment.
Just one more vinous adventure in Bulgaria.
posted by Wineguy at 5:59 AM
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