Melnik, Bulgaraia (Shutterstock)
In the years when I was a frequent face in Bulgaria, the wine region I liked most was Melnik in the south-west of the country, just north of the Greek border at Fort Roupel. It was the hottest region in Bulgaria and centred on the Struma Valley. Surrounded by steep mountains, the hillside vineyards were unsuitable for the collective
kolkhoz treatment meted out on the plains south of the Balkan Range, where quantity had triumphed over quality. The eponymous broad-leaved Melnik cultivar was interesting, not least because it was not one of the international “Mac” varieties favoured in many places elsewhere. There was also a variation in the “Melnik 55”, a hybrid grape created in 1963, which had an advantage over its parent for being an early-ripener.