Wine Review: Rupel Winery Gramatik Marselan 2015

It's the Fifth Annual Bulgarian Wine Month thanks to BulgarianWine.com! You can read all of the content and reviews from Bulgarian Wine Month under the Bulgaria label.

To read about the fascinating history of Bulgarian wine, check out Bulgaria - Part 1: Three-Thousand Years of Wine History. To learn about the grapes, wine regions and Bulgarian wine's place in the market, read Part 2: The Current State of Bulgarian Wine. And if you'd like to see what Bulgaria's national drink is all about, find out in Part 3: Invincibility of Rakia.

Rupel Winery is located in the Rupel Gorge on the slopes of the Durylovitsa, and you can see the Angistro mountains of Northern Greece from their vineyards. Times were tough in this area after the Greek army burned much of it down to the ground during the Second Balkan War in 1913, and phylloxera hit it pretty hard around then too, but they persevered and stuck to their traditional culture of viticulture and winemaking. With respect and love of their ancestral lands, Rupel began restoring old vineyards and planting them with new vines in 2006. Gramatik is one of their labels with a pretty extensive lineup of different wines.

So how about that Marselan? Ever heard of that grape? Marselan is not an indigenous Bulgarian variety, but a French one that is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. First bred near the French town of Marseillan, it's now mostly planted in the Languedoc and recently has gained popularity in China. I myself have never had a Marselan so this is a first for me.

Unfortunately I have no winemaking notes on this particular Bulgarian Marselan other than that it comes out of the Valley of Struma in the Thracian Lowlands, and it has an ABV of 14.5%.

The color of the wine is a black cherry purple. And oh my! The black cherry liqueur and blackberry liqueur on the nose is fantastic, backed up with Sambuca, vanilla extract, and toasty oak. This boozy and sweet nose just brings you right into the hedonistic zone and I'm just loving it so much.

On the palate it's medium bodied with a lush mouthfeel, soft and sweet tannin, and an acidity that gives a little brightness to the dark fruit. There's flavors of black cherries, juicy blackberries, vanilla, and... is that rosemary? I think it's rosemary. It finishes hot with that high ABV but with wonderful flavors of black cherry and vanilla that goes on forever.

For $17 this stuff is just AWESOME. If you're looking for a versatile red to toss down your gullet just to mellow you out and relieve some stress, I've got it right here. And you can buy it online right now: https://bulgarianwine.com/wines/gramatik-marselan-2015/

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $17

Rating: 4.5/5 = Recommended / Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.