Wine of the Month, October 2023
Château Burgozone 2020,
Côte du Danube Rouge
Bulgaria, Danubian Plain
£13.50 + 100 bonus loyalty points
It's back to red for October. Hints of autumn are getting more difficult to ignore, days are shortening and a glass of something warm and comforting seems the sort of thing to go for.
This is the second time this year we've gone to Bulgaria for our Wine of the Month, the reason being that since it's a bit an an overlooked area if you find a good wine here chances are it'll be good value for money and it goes without saying we think this one squarely fits that bill.
It's a generously flavoured blend of Merlot and Syrah that's seen a few months in oak so that all the ripe cassis and blackcurrant flavours are cloaked in a veil of sleek vanilla. And while there's plenty of oomph it wears it lightly and slips down very invitingly indeed.
Wine making in the Balkans goes back beyond the ancient Greeks so there's a rich vinous history here. But unfortunately the tribulations of the twentieth century, when the country was in the Eastern Bloc, didn't do much for quality and after the fall of communism there was a fair bit of catching up to do. Push forwards to these days though and western standards are the norm and quality bears comfortable comparison with anywhere you might be more familiar with.
Burgozone have been around since the early 2000's and their vineyards, in what has long been regarded as prime terroir, sit on the gently sloping banks of the lower Danube overlooking Romania. They've got a tendency to give their wines a bit of a French affectation with the liberal use of 'Chateau' and 'Côte du' on the label. But don't hold that against them, the wines easily stand up to scutiny without having to make pretences.
While there's plenty of ripe fruits here, keeping everything subtle is the name of the game. The gentle touch of spice and tobacco gives a likeable complexity to a wine where's the plenty going on. Don't forget there's a bonus 100 loyalty points for each bottle you buy as an extra incentive to give this a go.
Starting on Friday 29th September and throughout October it's available at £13.50 per bottle singly, or as part of a Mixed Six and for every bottle purchased you'll earn a bonus 100 loyalty points as well (that's worth £1.00 on redemption)
Check out the details here
