Mezzek, which is easily Katarzyna Estate’s most popular wine, was named after the nearly eponymous village in the south-eastern corner of Bulgaria (Mezek, accent on the second syllable), where, as one is told, there was the best-preserved medieval fortress in the country, with nine towers and covering an area of 0.7 hectares, dating to the 11th century.

It remained untouched until the early 1900s, when locals recognised the lovely craftsmanship of already-hewn stone, and decided to dismantle the walls for use in the construction of a Turkish barracks in Svilengrad. Luckily, some of the original fortress remained; it is now a listed monument of culture and is undergoing restoration.

Katarzyna Estate itself is in an area of Bulgaria near Svilengrad that is better-known as "no man’s land", a expanse that, under the socialist regime, was about 10 kilometres of dead space between the Greek and Bulgarian frontiers – for protection of course. When Belvédère Bulgaria, the parent company of Katarzyna, started plans on the winery in 2004, this terrain was owned by various small landholders, recipients of post-communist re-appropriation plots.

Katarzyna Estate, under the guidance of the CEO of the French Belvédère Groupe, Krzysztof Trylinski, bought up this land, acre by acre, to its current size of 350 hectares.

The winery currently has about 1000 hectares of vineyards, including in other places around Bulgaria.

Start-up capital in the winery amounted to 12 million euro; Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov attended its September 2007 official opening celebrations.

The first harvest, in September 2006, saw the French winemaking consultant Thierry Haberer, a partner of Michel Rolland’s, come on board the Katarzyna team. Haberer had been working as a visiting consultant in South Africa, when the director of Katarzyna Estate, Nikolai Dalakov, happened to meet him, and invited him to come to Bulgaria to share his expertise.

It was a return visit of Haberer’s to Katarzyna in late May 2009 that brought a van-full of journalists to the winery, for a day of touring the facilities, and tasting the estate’s range of top-class wines.

All the grapes are hand-picked, Haberer said, while Belvédère Bulgaria’s marketing manager Galina Niforou said that the winery’s full-time staff of about 60 increased to 600 at harvest time. All the good grapes get dumped into the 135 stainless steel tanks that are housed in the state-of-the-art pressing and fermentation hall, which, itself, has been painted with frescoes inspired by the region’s Thracian past, Niforou said.

The large number of tanks allows the winemakers "to play around in the vineyards", coming up with the best grape combinations, Haberer said. "Fifteen hundred tons of grapes are able to be processed (annually)," he said, "which is a lot of wine. It’s a big chateau."

Along with the stainless steel tanks, there are also some small French oak fermentation barrels of 225 to 400 litres that are "kind of experimental".

Throughout the grounds, one observes a number of barrels of various sizes, all painted, decorated and arranged. They are the result of a month-long plein air session that Katarzyna hosted in the summer of 2008 for some 15 local artists, including students from the Kazanluk arts high school.

Out in the vineyards, overlooking the rolling hills covered in rows and rows of orderly vines, Haberer discussed the terroir, and the estate’s efforts to start doing things in an environmentally friendly way. Soil here varies from acre to acre. There is a small plot, of one hectare, where there are three different soil types and the grapes have to be picked at three separate times.

They do have a soil map, but are "still learning where the differences are –  it’s a long process", Haberer said.
As to the environmentally responsible side of things, he remained vague, only saying that they were trying to work more "mechanically" and to use less herbicides. "It is still at a very, very early step."

Inside the banquet hall, where chairs and tables and couches break up the vast space, the care that went into Katarzyna Estate’s design is again obvious; if nothing else, the blend of contemporary and cowboy is enough to beckon you to enter.

Over a lunch joined by Katarzyna Estate executive director Svetlana Slavova and winemakers Ivan Kissyov and Svilen Kissyov, Haberer gave a casual, yet informative presentation of the chateau’s top seven labels (see box). Conversation stuck mostly to wine, with deliberations on different types of wood used for barrels (Katarzyna uses only French oak), and Slavova discussing the international markets that Katarzyna had breached.

The day before our visit, the winery had received permission from Canada’s state alcohol board to start imports. Slavova was overjoyed, and said that they would start shipping the Mezzek label soon.

Katarzyna Estate also exports to Russia, Poland, Denmark, Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and the United States. She said that Katarzyna had a desire to break into the UK market, but that even its lowest-priced wine, Mezzek, which retails in Bulgaria for about seven leva, was still above the average price spent per bottle by a typical British wine consumer.

While, at present, a hotel and spa centre are only plans, guests are invited to stop by for wine tastings. More information can be found at katarzyna.bg.

Among the winery’s various awards are bronze medals for Katarzyna’s Contemplations Triple Red 2006 and for the Estate First Vintage 2006 at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2008; a sliver for the Encore Syrah 2008 at the 2009 Syrah du Monde competition, and the same for the 2007 vintage the previous year; and a silver for the Contemplations chardonnay 2006, and bronzes for the 2006 vintages Question Mark cabernet sauvignon and merlot and Contemplations Triple Red, and the 2005 Les Amandiers chardonnay and sauvignon blanc at the San Francisco Wine Competition 2008.

Wines tasted

1. Les Fleurs 2008, chardonnay. Balanced acidity and flavours, good minerality, round in the mouth, but not too powerful; elegant.

2. Les Amadiers 2008, chardonnay (70 per cent), sauvignon blanc (30 per cent). An uncommon blend in Bulgaria, with grape percentages changing yearly; softer than Les Fleurs.

3. Gris Les Nuits Blanches 2008, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, rubin. Provence-style rosé; fresh, dry, with vanilla, spices and red fruits.

4. Contemplations 2008, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec. Good tannins, mix of 20 per cent barrel fermentation and ageing (12 months) in new oak. "We want to make wines that can age, but that can also be drunk," Haberer said.

5. Encore 2008, syrah. Lots of barrel fermentation, velvety, good structure and flavour; would go well with barbequed or braised beef or pork.

6. ? (Question Mark) 2008, cabernet sauvignon (60 per cent), merlot (30 per cent), malbec & syrah (each five per cent). Plum, black forest fruits, black pepper, mocha.

7. ? (Question Mark) 2007, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, syrah, cabernet franc. Somehow fruitier than the 2008.

8. Katarzyna Reserve, first vintage, cabernet sauvignon, merlot. 100 per cent new oak, sweet onset, slight sharpness at the finish. The most expensive contemporary Bulgarian wine on the market. Could age for at least 10 more years.