Shiroka Melnishka Vine

Names and synonyms:

Shiroka Melnishka loza.

Origin and distribution:

Shiroka Melnishka Vine is an old local variety, grown since ancient times in the microregion of Melnik, from where it bears its name. In the Middle Ages traders from Dubrovnik bought and exported to Venice the famous Melnik wines. It is distributed exclusively in the vicinity of the town of Sandanski, Melnik and Petrich and the villages of Harsovo, Kapatovo, Vinograd, Chuchuligovo, Damyanitsa, Levunovo, Drangovo, Hotovo, Zornitsa, Loznitsa, Piperitsa and others (Roychev, 2012). As of 2020, the area occupied by this variety is about 1188 ha, which represents 3.60 ha. % of the red wine varieties and 1.98 % of all vine varieties distributed in Bulgaria (MAF, Agrostatistics Department, 2020).

Botanical description (Roychev, 2012; IVV):

Young letoracic. The crown is cotton, white, with pink edge. The young leaves are light green, with a bronze hue, highly mossy on top, cottony white on the bottom. The shoot is mossy, to the top strong mossy, olive-green, in places with wine-red stripes.

It's a mature summer tree. The internodes are medium long, medium thick, slightly flattened, gray-brown. The knots have a violet hue due to the abundant wax coating. Winter eyes are large, conical, sharp, often double (characteristic).

It's a sheet. Very large (20.0/22.0 cm), wider than long, pentecostal, slightly cut, with vaguely defined shares resembling a pentagon. On top it is folded between the main nerves, slightly mossy, underneath bristly-moshy. The upper side crevices are open, shallow, in the form of a wide cleft or sharp corner. The lower cuts are open, even shallower in the form of a sharp angle, often hardly visible, and the sheet looks tripartite. The tail crest is closed, with a narrow elliptical opening, less often open, arrow-shaped.

It's a bunch of grapes. Medium to large (15.2/9.1 cm), conical, sometimes wing-shaped, semi-concise to concise. The average mass of the bunch is 200-300 g.

It's a nipple. Medium-sized (13,7/12,4 mm), oval. The skin is thick, tough, blue-black, with abundant waxy paste, with colorless juice. The texture is juicy and the taste harmonious. The average mass of a grain is 2.0-2.7 g.

Agrobiological characteristic:

Wide Melnik Vine is a late ripening red wine variety. Its grapes ripen in the first half of October. It best displays its valuable qualities only in the Melnik micro-region, where the active temperature sum for the growing season from budding to technological maturity is over 4000°C. The vines have strong growth, good fertility and yield. In order to obtain high-quality grapes, the load on the vines must be moderate – 20-24 eyes. When the vines are overloaded, the quality of the grapes deteriorates sharply (low levels of sugars, dyeing matter and extract). Variety Shiroka Melnik vine is sensitive to mildew and oidium. The variety develops and produces best grafted on the vine rootstocks Chasla x Berlandieri 41B and Berlandieri x Ripparia SO4. Grapes are relatively resistant to gray rot. Its resistance to low winter temperatures is low, but in the Melnik region temperatures during the winter period do not fall to the critical – 16°C and frost damage is not observed.

Technological characteristic:

By the mechanical composition of the grape and the grain, Shiroka Melnishka Vine is typically vinous, with a high theoretical yield – over 85%. Under the climatic conditions of the Melnik region, the grapes reach technological maturity at the beginning of October, with a sugar content of between 20.0 and 22.0. %and titratable acidity 6.0-8.0 g/dm³. The grapes are suitable for the production of quality red dry and dessert wines. The wines have a characteristic dark red colour, rich in extract and phenolic substances, full-bodied, harmonious. After ageing in oak barrels, they develop a bouquet specific to the variety.

Variations and Branches: They're not known.