Bulgaria · Oryahovitsa

Domaine Menada

Thracian Valley winery making estate grown red wines, including Menada 2022 and the three litre Menada Merlo Bag in Box.

The producer

Loza and Sila combined in 1947 to establish the Stara Zagora wine producing enterprise. Menada operates an in house laboratory that analyzes wines throughout production, and its equipment includes French oak barrels for maturation. The winery names the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada and the USA among its export markets. The cellar handles both white and red grapes.

Known for

Thracian Valley red wines

Notable facts

The story

Three Corporate Turns

In 1994, Menada was privatized, and the winery identifies the event as the first privatization of an enterprise in Bulgaria's wine sector. The ownership story continued in 2002, when Domaine Menada became part of France's Belvedere Group. In 2004, the winery was fully modernized and Tcherga wine was created. In 2015, Belvedere Group was renamed Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits Bulgaria.

Three Corporate Turns

In 1994, Menada was privatized, and the winery identifies the event as the first privatization of an enterprise in Bulgaria's wine sector. The ownership story continued in 2002, when Domaine Menada became part of France's Belvedere Group. In 2004, the winery was fully modernized and Tcherga wine was created. In 2015, Belvedere Group was renamed Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits Bulgaria.

From the atlas

Domaine Menada

A Thracian Valley winery with estate grown grapes, French oak maturation, and a red wine range built around named grape varieties.

At A Glance

FieldDetail
RegionThracian Valley, central Southern Bulgaria
Estate grown grapes80%
CellarFrench oak maturation
Red wineMenada 2022

The Producer

Menada began in 1901 as the Loza Cooperative. Today the winery can process over 8,000 tons of white and red grapes and reports annual production of 20 million bottles. Its cellar includes equipment for maturing wines in French oak barrels, giving the operation both large production capacity and an oak maturation program.

An in house laboratory analyzes wines throughout production. The winery works with estate grown fruit and presents a portfolio of red wines that includes both blended and named variety expressions.

Place

The prime vineyards lie in the villages of Elhovo and Mogilovo, about 18 kilometres from Stara Zagora, within the Thracian Valley of central Southern Bulgaria. The vineyard landscape sits between 170 and 260 metres above sea level under a temperate continental climate.

Menada lists maroon forest soils made from clay and sand, alongside rocky deluvial soils and slightly sandy or clayish alluvial deluvial soils. These different ground types give the vineyards varied water movement and rooting conditions across the growing area.

Wines

The range includes Menada Merlo, a three litre red Bag in Box wine. It also includes red wines named Mavrud, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, giving the portfolio both a format led bottle and wines organised around individual grape varieties.

Menada 2022 is a red wine with a three grape composition. It sits alongside the separate red variety names in the wider range.

In The Glass

Menada 2022 has a dark blue red colour. The aroma is fruity, with oak, plum, vanilla, blackcurrant, violet and chocolate.

The palate is very fruity and carries the same combination of oak and dark fruit notes. Plum and blackcurrant give the wine its fruit profile, while vanilla, chocolate and violet add further aromatic detail. The wine contains 0.6 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Menada 2022. Its 2022 vintage brings Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot together in one red wine, in proportions of 60%, 20% and 20%. The bottle gives a single, defined view of Menada's three grape composition before the range moves into wines named for individual red varieties.

Final Word

Domaine Menada joins a Thracian Valley setting with estate grown fruit, a high capacity cellar and a range that moves between blended and named variety red wines.

Sources

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