Avenue Vine

The Sonoma, California-based Bulgarian Master Vintners import company has released a new Muscat grappa. Peshterska Muskat Grape Brandy is named after the town Peshtera, which translates to “cave,” and is now available in six states.

Peshterska comes in a cobalt blue teardrop shaped bottle made of hand-blown Italian glass. The brandy has a Muscat grape flavor, according to the company, and has won two awards at international wine competitions. Currently available in California, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia and Hawaii, the grappa will make its nationwide debut at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA)convention in Las Vegas in early April. Peshterska has 40-percent alcohol by volume and retails for between $17 and $19 a 750-ml. bottle.

The Bulgarian Master Vintners have also re-released the Bulgarian wine label Vini, starting with the 2004 vintages of the brand’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Previously available in the U.S. with a different label, the Bulgarian Master Vintners revamped and expanded the Vini line in the hopes of making the Bulgarian product appealing to America’s mass wine market. The vintners chose winemaker Miro Tcholakov from Trentadue Winery in Sonoma County, California, to head the project.

“No Bulgarian wine has flourished in the United States,” says Vance Petrunoff, president of the Bulgarian Master Vintners. “I decided to create the first mass-market Bulgarian wine brand and become a negociant in the process.”

Vini wines, whose labels have the famous Veni Vidi Vici motto (I came, I saw, I conquered) on them, have 12.8-percent alcohol-by-volume and retail for roughly $7.99 a 750-ml. bottle. The wines are available in California, New York, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, Massachusettes, Washington and Hawaii. Though only the Cabernet and Merlot are released now, the Bulgarian Master Vintners hope to bring in a Pinot Noir soon.

Source: “Bulgarian Vintners Release New Grappa,” Laura Pelner, Wine Spectator, February 23, 2006