I will be honest, my knowledge of Macedonian produce was limited to aijvar, a delicious condiment which accompanies meat dishes such as cevapi/cevapcici. So when I visited the International Wine Festival in London I was surprised to find a few stalls dedicated to Macedonia (somewhat ineptly rather close to Greece!). My favourite Macedonian wines turned out to be that produced by Dalvina.
The Dalvina vineyards and winery are located near the city of Strumica, south-east Macedonia, in Povardarie,Strumichko-Radovishki wine region. This is the famous valley of the Struma and Strumeshnica rivers. The valley has a typical Mediterranean climate. Standing at an altitude of 380 m. and being surrounded by high mountains, the vineyard benefits from a constant light wind and an average temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius during the period of vegetation. With 210 sunny days in the year, little rain and relatively low humidity, healthy grapes are ensured.
Dalvina winery owns 370ha of vineyards. The soil is mostly sandy with an excellent exposition of the terrain which is gently layed over the smooth hills. Grape varieties include those typical for the region such as Vranec, Zupljanka, Smederevka which are some 30 years old but also newer varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Carmenere and Cabernet Franc.
The synergy of fertile soil and moderate Mediterranean climate means the grapes develop a rich palette of aromas and tastes making juicy, fruity and also complex wines that makes them quite impressive on a world market.
The Dalvina winery is relatively new with a capacity of 22 000 hl. The latest gentle technology has been installed from reception of the grapes until fermentation. Traditional délestage wine making process is used for the red wines. Automatically controlled cap plunging enhances colour and aroma extraction. The main aim of the vineyard is to capture the unique properties of the grapes, the soil and microclimates of the area.
Astraion
The process of winemaking is like a great celebration in the Hamzali valley. People from the surrounding villages come to join in picking up the grapes, taking good care to collect them by hand. Each individual grape is put on a track where it is carefully selected and cleared from all leaves and stems. After passing the destemer and the decrusher, beautiful, fresh, good coloured and round little grapes are taken to the fermentors. There the process continues in a very well controlled manner which leads to the production of the highest qualities of the wine.
All the wines, both white and red, are rich in flavour, powerful and even exotically tropical, clear, vividly fruity and have a great intensity. Each wine is spicy, buttery, with a touch of sweetness, yet individual in character and can be drunk young or aged, the complexity of which develops dramatically over time.
For those who shy away from fruity flavours Dalvina also produces red wines aged in oak barrels. The barrels have a cappacity of 220 litres and are made from Macedonian, medium toasted oak. With the right amount of new, flavoursome oak,and in the ideal size of the barrel, the wine becomes complex in terms of both subtle flavours and rich texture. All the various aromas of vanilla, toast, spice, smoke and coconut make the wines, both white and red, seductive.
The Vranec barrique, Merlot barrique and Cabernet Sauvignon barrique are created from a red grape variety and Zupljanka barrique is produced from a white variety grape. From these variets, white, rose and red (almost black) wines are produced. The main characteristics include being very fresh and fruity, with vivid colours, a rich body and a diverse palette of aromas.
There is a very good choice of dry wines which gives a sensation, or at least an expectation of sweetness which goes closely with the beautiful aroma of the grapes. The rose-scented Muscat Trolinger and banana/tropical citrus fruits in the Zupljanka variety are incredible tastes.
Vranec
Syrah is the most exotic and full-bodied of red wines, full of spice and leather, tar, game, blackberries, raspberries, pepper and herbs and will be available in larger quantities in 2010.
The Rhein Riesling which is currently a victim of fashion in the world at large yet is nonetheless one of the world’s few truly great white wines. Its flavours of peaches, apricots, honey and apples plus a whiff of smoke and minerals and hint of spice and mouthwatering of lime, are just astonishing.
Delicious at youth and yet capable of developing over a long period into a much more complex wine with a very high qualities is Vranec, purple-black dry wine with an aroma of all possible forest’s black fruits such as blackberries, blackcurrant, wild strawberry and cranberries, even plum or plum jam.
Very attractive drinkable soon after the vintage and with a special mark of the area is Cabernet Sauvignon with its blackcurrant and green pepper flavor with a full body, complex and concentrated wine of a great depth and tannic structure to last 20 years.
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