The Local Grape Varieties of Bulgaria

A brief agrobiological and technological characterization of the red indigenous wine varieties Gamza, Mavrud and Wide Melnik is examined in this article. They belong to the Black Sea ecological-geographic group (Proles pontica Negr.). The Gamza and Mavrud varieties are late ripening, and the Wide Melnik vine variety is a very late ripening variety. The varieties described possess high fertility of replacement and dormant buds. The Gamza variety is widespread and shows the best agrobiological and technological qualities only in Central and Western Northern Bulgaria. It is sensitive to low winter temperatures and can only be grown as low-stemmed (dwarf) in these areas. The Mavrud variety is widespread and cultivated in the Plovdiv region, mainly in the Asenovgrad microdistrict, where it is zoned and shows its agrobiological and technological qualities best, and on smaller areas in the Pazardzhik and Stara Zagora regions. The grapes of the Mavroud variety are mainly used for the production of high quality dry black wines. The wines develop their qualities after 2-3 years of aging in wooden barrels. Wide Melnik variety is widespread in the southern part of the South-Western wine-growing region, where it is also zoned. It requires a high amount of vegetation temperature, develops and bears fruit well in microregions with high (above 4.000 °C) vegetation temperature, on hilly terrain with southern exposure and soils with light mechanical composition. It is one of the original Bulgarian varieties for the production of red wines. Article History: Received: 30.03.2021 Accepted: 14.06.2021 First online: 30.06.2021 Corresponding Author pl_yankova@abv.bg