THE WINE CELLAR

Specification :

“Quality wines are made in the field – not in the wine cellar.” This is the guiding principle and professional philosophy of all serious winemakers, whose main task is to analyze the inherent qualities of the grape and to transform them into a complete sensory experience. A magic metamorphose, beginning from the moment of cutting a bunch of grapes and continuing for many years in ahead.

Lars Torstensson checks the grapes quality on the field before harvest

Fermentation

Abdvika’s wine cellar is built on the farm and is equipped with modern, temperature controlled. The number and the size of the tanks are optimized for the grape´s varieties and today´s harvest volumes.

After extensive flavor tests and analyses the winemaker makes the decision to harvest. Then a very intensive labor work begins. During the morning hours until noon, today´s harvest , (5-8 tons grapes of the same variety) are picked by hand, in order to be vinified later that day.

Five to eight ton grapes are harvested by 25 workers, from 6 in the morning to lunch time

On arrival to the wine cellar the grapes undergo an extra quality control and already later the same day they find themselves in the vinification tank (the fermenter). All this is done to optimize an even quality and to avoid the need for sulphur dioxide and chemical preservatives.

Final Quality control before fermentation

The vinification process is carefully monitored by frequent laboratory tests, but primarily by the daily taste and fragrance tests done by the winemaker. The fermentation is a biochemically very complex transformation of sugar into alcohol. Small deviations from the optimal temperature, lack or surplus of oxygen, nitrogen or carbon dioxide may result in the formation of several bad-tasting by-products such as heavy alcohols, acetic acids, sulphur compounds etc.

LarsTorstensson checks the taste and aroma of the fermenting wine

Barrel aging

When the fermentation process is completed the wine is matured in 225 liter oak barrels (barrique) for 10–12 months. Storing it in oak barrels is a process of quality enhancement aiming to “marry” the relative harshness of the oak’s tannic acid to the flavors of the wine. This procedure forms the “Backbone” and  the “body” of the wine and increases its maturing potential.

Wine on barrel testing

Once in the barrels, regular controls are made as well as refilling and redrawing (the removal of wine from one barrel to another to separate it from the residue accumulated over time) to make it possible for the wine to age naturally, eliminating the need for filtration and additives. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, which is only applied for the production of excellent quality wines at the very best vineyards.

Oak barrel

Despite the fact that the quality of the oak and barrels are extremely important for the results of wine’s maturity, it is almost impossible to write a barrel specification. Even more difficult is to control how well barrel quality has been met.

Cooperage is a family business where the craft is passed on through the generations. Making wine barrels is a 2–3 year process beginning with the careful selection of oak wood still on root, felling it, sawing the trunk into board and storing it in the open for at least two years, so that the sun, rain, snow and wind will macerate the bitter tannic acid out of the wood.

The cooper shapes the barrel with water and fire….

The selection of a cooper is always as careful as for the cultivation of grapes. Most of our red wines, with the exception of First Selection, are aged in Bulgarian barrels made by our cooper, Master Metodi from the village of Vrachesh. Frequent visits to the cooperage workshop will make sure the material originates from old oak trees (at least 80–90 years), and that each board is evenly air-dried.

Toasting is the next phase in the making of barrels, the quality of which is important not only for the taste, but also for the development (metamorphosis) of the wine. The densification of the wood pores under the influence of heat lowers the oxidation rate and creates the right conditions for the wine to develop a unique fragrance and flavor bouquet.

The toasting of Abdyika’s barrels is done over an open fire, all according to our own recipe created to suit the character of the Melnik grape.

The barrels are toasted according to our own recipe

To create a wine with its own style and taste profile

During the thousand-year history of wine, it has been learned that mixing of grapes from different varieties, new taste characteristics are created.

By blending wines from selected grape varieties and barrels, a skilled oenologist can compose a wine with a unique flavor and balance. But to  blend a wine is an art that can take years, sometimes a lifetime to learn!

Abdvika´s wine styles are developed and composed by Lars Torstenson, Anders Melldén and Abdvika´s winemaker Ivo Todorov. The goal is to create a typical of the region wine, with an optimal for the grape variety style, reflecting the vintage’s character and emphasizing the vineyards terroir.

Aromas, taste and the structure of the wine are the leading criteria for the “perfect” recipe

After the wine has been barreled, it´s time for the first preliminary blend. Since the yeast aromas in the young wines are dominant in the beginning the winemaker relies mostly on technical analysis, and tannin structure. Over time, aroma and taste become leading for subsequent adjustments until the perfect “recipe” for the wine’s vintage is achieved.From a year to another, the weather creates new conditions for the vines vegetation and harvest parameters. This will require a new blend recipe for optimal results.

Lars Torstenson, Ivo Todorov and Georgi Ganev are discussing the  recipe of  “Blend 2016”

Finally after two years of work, first on the field and then in the winery, the wine is bottled on the our bottling line. Extensive sanitation checks and minimal contact with oxygen during bottling, eliminates the need for preservatives and prevents all forms of uncontrolled oxidation.

Abdyika’s oenologists:

Lars Torstenson: A France oenologist, led 1988-2005 winery Domaine Rabiega in Provence. He is known to have been at the forefront of wine development in southeastern France (Provence) and created many new wines such as Clos Dière and Rabiega Rouge. He has received several international awards, and was appointed in 1994 to Vigneron de l’ Année of food and wine by the magazine Gault Millau https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Torstenson

Anders Melldén: Restaurant Academy in Stockholm, and training in food and beverage at IMI Switzerland, wine journalist, Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), Swedens biggest daily newspapers, Gourmet, food and wine magazine and many more. Autor of wine and food books www.mellmedia.com

Ivo Todorov: University of Sofia-Biology, Winemaker since 1998 and responsible for Abdvika´s wines since 2009 it@abdyika.bg