site.btaFamily Boutique Winery Revives Rare Local Grape Varieties

BTA will present dozens of Bulgarian wineries in the New BG WINE Leads the Way series ahead of the 9th UN Global Conference on Wine Tourism, which will be hosted in Plovdiv. The forum is organized by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the UN World Tourism Organization.

Mihovi Estate, a family-run boutique winery located 15 km from Sandanski in the village of Ilindentsi, was profiled on Sunday. The winery, situated between the Pirin, Ograzhden and Maleshevska mountains, is operated by several generations of the Mihov family and specialises in rare local grape varieties.

The estate’s story stretches across generations, with each contributing to building its vinicultural traditions in the scenic foothills of three mountain ranges. As third-generation winemaker and oenologist Peter Mihov explained, Mihovi Estate focuses on reviving forgotten and mystical grape varieties, such as the legendary Keratsuda and Melnik 82.

The family started growing grapevines in the 1990s, with Peter Mihov as their first professionally trained oenologist. The winery began operations in 2020 and uses only grapes from its own vineyards. Their approach focuses on small batches of rare, local varieties, including Keratsuda, Melnik 82, Shiroka Melnishka Stara Loza, and Melnik 55. The Melnik 82 vines are approximately 45 years old, planted in the early 1980s, while the youngest vineyard, featuring Chardonnay Sauvignon and Malbec, is four years old.

Mihovi Estate specializes in small-batch wines, with Keratsuda as its signature variety. The estate likely has the largest Keratsuda vineyard in Bulgaria, spanning over 0.7 hectares. Mihovi Estate also grows Melnik 82, which gained national recognition four years ago with a gold medal at the Balkan Wine Festival. The vineyards are not irrigated, but this does not impact yields. This year, the winery maintains regular production, with most output distributed within the Bulgarian market.

“Our motto is to reveal the local varieties, and this is our goal,” Mihov added. The estate is developing a new line of natural wines, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, using organic fermentation, no added sulphites, and aging in Bulgarian oak barrels. Experimental production of a Keratsuda dessert wine is also underway. Last year, Mihovi Estate’s Shirok Melnik 55 ranked among Bulgaria’s top 50 wines for 2024.