We stop into Crush Fine Wines in New Bedford, MA whenever we’re in the area. Kristian Vasilev, the proprietor, always has something open and lots of unusual things on his shelves. (You can read a bit about the store by clicking here) The open wines tend to be in the sweet spot for good value, $10 to $20, and more often than not we end up bringing one or two of them home. Recently we did indeed find ourselves in the area and took the opportunity to say hello to Kristian. This trip was no exception, and three different wines were purchased in the end. You should swing by and visit Crush if you are ever nearby. It’s an easy on and off from Route 195, so take a detour next time your heading to, or from, Cape Cod.
Here’s the wine from Bulgaria, which was totally unknown to us. We have a few more from this trip we’ll review in the near future.
Wine: 2008 Castra Rubra Via Diagonalis
Winery Location: Bulgaria
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri (and Kristian!) Date: June 2016
Tasting Notes: – this was the wine Kristian couldn’t wait to tell us about when we arrived. He pulled a bottle off the shelf and insisted we take one home. We then spent time tasting the three others he had opened, all of which were good and two of which we bought. This one we had to wait for. Bulgarian wine was unknown to us before now, although clearly the wine scene in Eastern Europe is exploding with quality. My excursion last year to Slovenia was ample proof of that. (read about that here)
This wine is dark, almost black. It looks like a Cahors. Since it is a 2008, and almost ten years old, there is a touch of amber at the rims. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and two indigenous grapes, Mavrud and Rubin. The nose is dark fruit, with black plum and earthy tones. Also some leathery notes and just a hint of anise. It has huge legs. On the palate it brings more dark fruit and
The vineyards at Castra Rubra
complex nuances. It’s big, full bodied and very long. This is a serous wine any lover of big reds will appreciate. It is very good.
Price Point – $11. Need we say more? Wow!
Would We Buy It? – buy it by the case, we would. This is a screaming value.
As always, there is a surprise around every corner in the world of wine. This was unexpected, and unexpectedly good. It’s available at Crush Fine Wines in New Bedford. Tell Kristian we sent you.
A votre santé!
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