So did the hailstorm killed 70% of all your crops?
Yes...it was tragedy
Oh sure, sure!
I mean that could put you out of business
I explain to her, the woman who worked on the field began to cry
Oh, because she knew. Yes. She knew...
Hey you guys!
Thanks for joining us on another journey.
Today we're in Bulgaria and we're at Melnik.
It's a beautiful little village of Bulgaria!
And did you know that Bulgaria has some of the most amazing wines??
And we're here with Nik and his wife who is the owner of
what's the name of your vineyard? Villa Melnik
Villa Melnik is our winery and it is a pleasure to have you & you today
Oh yes
And to have all of the viewers YouTube
So sit back, relax and enjoy the journey!
Wow, this is one view!
In the geological past, this was a bottom of a lake
and the soil's sandy deposits
on the bottom of the lake
inclusions of clay and ...
so the soil is really rich here? the soil is poor for everything else
besides vines
and for this reason in this area vines are grown for more than 6,500 years
Wow! oh wow
archaeological proofs for this
and we are following the tradition
I come from this village over there
actually realized life is passing by
and the second half is approaching
I decided to make something to, to spend my
money which I made in other businesses, to leave something behind
the winery is very new
actually in Bulgaria
wine business and private business
were not possible until 30 years ago
right because it was under Communist rule right? yes, yes
so all of the businesses are new. it's a family business
we have 30 hectares which is something like
maybe 75 acres
American acres. oh wow
of vineyards and 1/3 is here in front of us
there are quite the number of
wineries around here. yes, we learned that
over there in the village of Harsovo you can see a winery
it's called ... winery built 90 years ago
before the Communism
it was allowed to stay during the communism?
yes but it was nationalized. oh, ok
the government took it
unfortunately I cannot explain about flavors but this is very rich flavors
because this is Muscat
oo, I like that one. oh yeah. it's very light, not very sweet. yes
this is dry but we have a lot of the sun shining and ...
you don't taste the alcohol content either
look at this, this is new ... yeah i like that
that is, that's like my favorite white wine
no, the next will be your favorite
have things changed a lot for the better since
no longer being communist, or? it depends
who you're asking, if you ask me
i'll say that things have changed for the better
if you ask somebody who was
50 or 60 when the political changes took place
and they had no time to adapt to the new environment
so the government was taking care of them
now they're not taking care of them? yes
for retired people all the funds for retirement payments
disappeared and so for them this is a disaster
Ohhh. Oh yeah
but i believe that for young people
they even cannot imagine what was before
they live for today's
realities
we organized everything
that if we want to fill the tank which is below this opening
the crusher will be here
oh and that's where you start dropping into all your tanks and the three different levels
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Saint Tryphon who is considered to be patron of wine growing
it's like the modern scissors to cut the branches of the grapes
this is expensive..
crusher is above this opening the tanks are below
is this where we were standing upstairs? yes
after the fermentation period which is about two-three weeks depending
on the process we take out the young wine from this tank
and the leftovers from here
go through this opening to the press on the lower floor
okay. to be squeezed further. the liquid stays here
we don't distill ...
but send the leftovers, the dry leftovers, to be composted
as fertilizer to the vineyards after them. oh so re-put it back into the earth
yes, yes. that's a great way to do that. yeah
don't think only drink
don't think, only drink!
that's my philosophy. hey that's Wayne's motto
I've lived my life that way
this is the one I'm intrigued with, the orange wine
Daughter studied in Boston University after this
she was in UK three year training program,
sales Johnny Walker, beer Guiness
vodka Smirnoff, etc.
she worked three years.
... this kind of wine, orange wine, let's go to make this--this is very interesting, very modern
very good wine we try and
after short on the market
we receive a lot of prize--award, award yeah
we saw your awards, you have lots of awards--
and everybody like this wine, this is new for our market
it's new for me too, I've never had one or heard of it
maybe Nik explain how we make this one
you mentioned the orange wine, is that made with oranges?
no, it's white wine made through the technology of red wines
so after crushing, everything ferments together
the seeds, the skins and the juice
becoming more intense for this reason it is called not white but orange
Oh! we are crushing on the top floor, right, then red wines
fermenting on the middle floor
white wines, rose are fermenting on this floor
red wines and one orange wine
Ohhh, that's so different! yes, different. full body, full
aromas, a lot of aromas
Ohhh! Yeah a lot of different senses going on there
I invite the people from this village our neighbors and they always make wine
and explain how we make this
and explain this is new, new, new
the people say, no this is not new this is way which we use always
Oh! this is old way to make white wine. oh!
we use only
oak barrels mainly made in Bulgaria from Bulgarian oak
but also from oak imported from North America
you know that American oak
is different species than European oak and has different
taste, different aromas so it's quite good for the wine to have different origins of oak
we use one barrel for no more than four times
the barrels are instrument to enrich the wine with oaky
flavors/aromas to let the wine bleed through the pores of the wine
and after that we sell to other not so sensitive wine makers
or to whiskey manufacturers or brandy
...over here, another type of trailing of the vines
these are traditional, old trails without the lines without the ...
we just tie them here, the branches, and they are supporting each other
and stay like this. so these are more of a bush then
yes these are bushy vines. i always thought they run along the lines like that
this is only here to remind me how it was in the past
when I was young
our family vineyard was like this
only bushes. Ohhh!
so this is more traditional, yes more traditional
do you export to the United States? we have one wine distributed by Naked Wines
Californian based company. how long do they stay in
in the vats? the initial fermentation
which is to covert the sugars
in the grape juice to alcohol
takes place for about 20 days. but then
there are other types of fermentation to convert some of the acids like malic acid
other sweeter type of acids like lactic acid and this can take several months
and wines mature to become better like women.
with age? young women are attractive but quite dangerous
more mature and experienced women have much more qualities
so it is the same with wine
well said. very well said, yes
second favorite? yes
I like her--we're up to 15 favorites!
I asked her while you were out flying the drone I asked her what her favorite is
and she said, she said that it is like children,
you can't choose one favorite, they have lots of favorites
I only have one kid so it's easy to only have one favorite
and it's really just the dog--sorry Ivey!
Cheers, Cheers
my favorite again
and this is sauvignon blanc
I like
tasty
in such cellars most important is to have constant temperature throughout the year
we have one tradition in this area
to dig into the
sandy hills cellars
and from there to receive free of charge warmth during the winter and
coolness during the summer
you dug this tunnel then? yes
I told you this area in the past was
bottom of a lake and you can see here
the different layers, the different colors
white from the carbonates
and the brownish is minerals from the volcano which are now rusting on the moisture
mainly red but those are white wines
because of the minerals in the soil? because the minerals, because of the good drainage in the soil
there are no particles
water is draining quite easily
the vines they like nourishment and water
the wine from a vine in which has not received a lot of water is much better
than if we had irrigated and fertilized the vines
they're getting us a sample from the barrel
oh, sample from the barrel
it's a good wine
it's a young wine
from ... to variety Melnik Jubilee
only 1,200. now we shall go to another barrel
which is ...
from his vineyards
oh, okay. you store your wines here as well then?
yes, he has two and a half barrels
his volume but more important is his feelings
sure, sure. yes
his feelings. he's wine producer
and grows grapes and makes wine
same. it's ... in Bulgarian oak
ooh, i like that
very fruity wine. yes
and now you can try the same wine in French barrel
very fruity
mmm, yes.
it's good. oh, it's different. how many bottles of wine do you make? we make 200,000 per year
just the aroma, mm-hmmm. aroma, body
so the hailstorm killed 70% of all your crops? yes
it was tragedy--oh sure. no, yeah, yeah!
I mean that could put you out of business. I explain her
the woman who work on the field began to cry. oh, because she knew.
it's not machine, it's hand-picked
looked at person by person to make sure the grape is the right grape to put into the vat
it's--personal--very personal
sorry about the glare--sunlight here
so this is Hailstorm
and it says, "the hailstorm struck on July 1, 2016
it devastated 75% of the yield
the grapes that survived took in all the strength of the vine. as a result the wine has incredible strength--incredible concentrations and power.
Challenges create opportunities."
that is so--poetic
oh, it's so moving. Cheers, cheers
Take good lesson from tragedy.
yes. that's how life is though
you have to go through the bad to get to the good.
yes. and god, I go through the bad a lot
for very little good
but the good is amazing!
mm-hmmm. oh my
I wish you could smell this
that's what makes the wine too
the rarity of the wine makes the wine
and you see it won
an award--look at these awards. ... competition
do you have more bottles of this?
of this wine we have 5,000 bottles
5,000
oh wow, so very limited supply. if you want
some of these bottles
we'll put a link below, check out the link the below
and I'm sure they'll ship them to you
here we have only the entire block
is for table grapes. we don't make wine from these grapes
you ship them? no, they are for the guests
Oh!
starting from let's say middle of July
until Christmas we have fresh grapes
Oh! really, all the way to Christmas?! yes
I don't know, farms seem like a lot of work
yes--but so rewarding--
at least this kind
especially when the wine is ready--
yes--and we are sitting around the table
oh, for sure. it's a pleasure.
your wife showed us all of her favorite wines
which is a lot. We want to thank you guys for watching our video all the way until the end.
If you would, hit that subscribe button, share it with a friend and, like always, thank you for living life!