Vaskovino

Merry Christmas to all friends and colleagues. May your festive holiday is peaceful and bright. Cheers!

I wonder when Bulgarian wine producers will follow their French colleagues and sabotage all wine Imports in Bulgaria that threaten them. I also wonder whether Bulgarian restaurateurs will stand in favour of Bulgarian wine rather than shun it completely. I can easily sell wine from all around the world yet I choose to support Bulgarian wine. Am I missing a trick here?!

French wine growers' protest: Cargoes of Spanish cava and rose destroyed by demonstrators waging 'economic war' Around 500 vintners hijacked lorries at the border town of Boulou and sabotaged their shipments, arguing that unfair competition is causing problems selling their own products.

Looking for Atlantis in theTtakkos
Bay makes me rather thirsty! Tonight will be hunting for Xynisteri and Maratheftiko. I need to revise on my Cyprus wine knowledge. It has gone rusty since Covid. Those with a sweet tooth should look for Commandaria.

First impressions

After a great birthday tasting of Bononia estate wines going to check out Cyprus wines for a change. Very busy at Gatwick and plane was 1.5 hour delayed but these a small hiccups, right?! Wish me luck!

A closed secret tasting of Bononia Estate sparkling revealed similarities to procecco. Soft beguiling mousse, fruity, fruit infused palate delicate and yet long finish. Very morish!

At the 'peak' of English summer we are to taste a flagship range for a possible newcommer for Vaskovino-Bononia Estate. It is an ambitious project near Vidin that has captured the local connoisseurs with its quality and scope. Wine prices in Bulgaria have aligned with Europe and yet some wines remain bargains. Ivana Yamantieva from Yamantievs Winery comes to mind when discussing qualities price ratio but let's hope that Bononia estate flagship range will join the best and capture the group of wine loving friends joining us tonight. The customer is always the ultimate judge and at £16.95 Bononia has a formidable competition from around the world. Luckily, it also has a secret weapon, indigenous grapes. Tonight on taste will be Dimiat, Vrachanski Misket and Gamza(also known as Kadarka) alongside the ubiquitous Ivaylovgrad and Brestovitza Rubin. Cheers!

A very refreshing tasting this afternoon of Bononia estate wine and a special Thank you to Daniela Radeva, who kindly made it possible.
I am rather pleasantly surprised to sample so refreshingly delicious portfolio. Bononia are already known in UK as Wine society and Old Cellar have imported their Gomotartsi range. I, however, may bring the estate range to show the real deal and potential of this relatively new Bulgarian Wine producer.

Yamantievs Ivaylovgrad 2016 meritage blend CabernetxMerlot is coming of age. It is at its peak and although it may last for 2-3 years, now is the time to crackers it open. If you have not invested in more than a bottle you should head to vaskovino.co.uk where it is on offer now!

Good News for Wine Lovers
Another study finds a link between moderate wine consumption and health in ageing adults. Both red and white wine are found to be important.for burning 'brown' fat and helping bone density respectively. No such link is found for beer and spirits. Cheers!

picks.my

Wine prices may have gone up in Bulgaria but the best wineries like Yamantievs still offer amazing value for money.

The pedigree of a winery is obvious from their house wine. I doubt that there is a better value or more delicious Bulgarian house wine than Kaba Gayda. Yamantievs ought to be proud of their Kaba Gayda 2018 blend. Still going strong, holding up, simply sublime. Great with Boreray meatballs courtesy of Norfolk's Holly Farm in Litcham.. Available from Vaskovino

This Xmas we battled Covid. It was fairly scary with different symptoms every day and it goes for more than a week. We had wine on Christmas Day and surprisingly it tasted fabulous regardless of our senses being numbed. I admit it is a matured example as I long have known that Bulgarian wine needs a few years under the belt to come to its own. This vintage 2016 is great for drinking now!

Last of the summer wine

This was a gloomy mostly overcast summer and the mood drifted over to September. Perhaps that is the reason that lighter wines like Brestovitza Young Wine Pamid and Erigon Rubin have been more popular with friends who preferred easy drinking delicious wines. Borovitza wines held the title of best selling wine on the website www.vaskovino.co.uk and Yamantiev's Reserve wines continued being liked by serious wine connoisseurs. It's been a lot about value lately and Bulgarian wine has always come top on value! Trastena raspberry also comes to mind as a firm favourite for drinking on its own. I have no doubt that Logodaj Melnik 55 will rule the autumn but we will report duly on that in our next post.

Our last tasting produced yet another proof of the quality and pedigree of Bulgarian wines. The higgest rating wine came to be Yamantievs Grande Reserve Syrah 2015. It solidified the image of Yamantievs as a quality wine producer. Although mostly known for great quality wines at great prices, they also produce stunning wines at higher price points than £15.00. Naturally they are much more contested at the £20.00 mark but still hold their ground well.

Brexit is a fact. Covid seems to linger on. Spring kind of came then...left. It is 22nd May and temperatures hover around 10C . Travel is still in the air but lots of fake and not so fake news about vaccine passports, non essential travel, quarantine required, red- amber-green list of destinations, etc., etc., also abound. So far, the glass is not half empty, it's not existent. I can add further complexities on a personal level but do not dare to bore you with trivialities like" life is sh..t and then you die my friend". This post was supposed to be about the Joie de Vivre and look what it turned into?!
Thanks God there is wine to soothe all trouble. Tonight I am going to savour a bottle of Logodaj Melnik 55 2018. Mmm! Yes, it is back! It has beaten Covid SCM fiascos, Brexit, Haulage price hikes and it is back. You can have it from www.vaskovino.co.uk for a very special Beat Covid Doom&Gloom price £13.50 for the time being. Once travel ban is over, prices go back where they were, 20% up. Yes, on all wines! That we at Vaskovino can do! 20% down on all wine until travel bans are down. If you want to take advantage of this Beat the Covid Blues and Travel Ban Wooes offer email me at [email protected] and I will send you a code. All you need is "Love...and Wine!". Cheers!
P.S. For those that are losing on the love front there should be even more wine for "In Vino Veritas!"