BARGAIN FROM BULGARIA IN A SUPPLE CABERNET
Wednesday, March 18, 1998
Section: TASTE
Page: G2
By Mike Dunne
THIRST
-- Vance Petrunoff figures that if he can sell Chrysler cars and Macintosh computers in Bulgaria, he should be able to sell Bulgarian wines in California.
Thus his Bulgarian Master Vintners, an import company based in Sonoma. Now, that's confidence in the quality and potential of Bulgarian wines.
A native of Sofia, Petrunoff defected to the United States in 1985 and began publishing a directory of Eastern European trading companies. In 1992, following the collapse of communism, he sold his publishing company and returned to Bulgaria. He packed his luggage with hopes of cashing in on the rise of free enterprise, primarily with distributorships for Chrysler and Apple. I did what I preached in my book and took these business opportunities in Bulgaria, says Petrunoff.
But Bulgaria went sour in 1995, when the Communists came back into power, he adds. So he returned to California and started to import Bulgarian wines. They weren't as bad as I thought they'd be, he says. He figured he'd been spoiled by California wines, but was surprised by the strides the Bulgarian wine industry had made, starting with privatization in the early 1990s. Actually, they were rather good.
One brand he's importing is Menada, of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria's sixth largest city, in the southern reaches of the country, where about a third of the nation's 400,000 acres of vineyards are planted. Half the acreage is in black grapes, and more than half that total is Cabernet Sauvignon.
And it's a remarkably fresh and captivating Cabernet, to judge by the Menada 1991 Private Reserve Oriachovitza Cabernet Sauvignon ($8-$9). A dense and brilliant garnet with a purple hue, the wine is leanly structured and medium-bodied, its youthful berry-cherry flavors accented with spice, eucalyptus and dill from its aging in American oak. It isn't grand or voluptuous, but a Cabernet Sauvignon with this much suppleness, complexity and interest is rare at such a bargain price.
In Sacramento, Menada wines can be found at the Nugget Market on Riverside Boulevard, Ernie's in Carmichael, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, Taylor's Market, Beverages and More, and the restaurants Cafe Vinoteca and Moxie. |
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