Dimyat ( bg, димят) is a white
Bulgarian wine Grape growing and wine production have a long history in Bulgaria, dating back to the times of the Thracians. There is evidence of Bulgarian winemaking since 4000 B.C. Wine is, together with beer and grape rakia, among the most popular alcoholic bev ...
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...
. It is one of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
's most widely planted white grape varieties, second only to
Rkatsiteli
Rkatsiteli (; Georgian რქაწითელი ''rkats’iteli''; literally "red stem" or "red horned") is a kind of grape used to produce white wine.
History
This ancient vinifera originates in Georgia and is supposed to be one of the olde ...
. Wines made from this variety are noted for their
perfume
Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...
aromas.
[J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 108 Abbeville Press 2003 ] While some
ampelographer
Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...
s believe that the variety is indigenous to Bulgaria, legends have developed around Dimiat being named after a town in the
Nile Delta and was brought back to Europe by
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
.
[Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 85 Harcourt Books 2001 ]
History
The exact origins of the Dimyat grape are unknown, with some ampelographers believing the vine to be native to the Bulgaria area. Recent
DNA typing
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...
has shown it to be a crossing of
Gouais Blanc
Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...
(Weißer Heunisch) with another, unidentified grape variety.
Gouais is a parent of several older European grape varieties. One alternative hypothesis, which is highly improbable given the Gouais parentage, is the legendary tale that the grape was native to the
Nile Delta valley (where today there is an Egyptian town with a similar name,
Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...
) and was brought back to
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
by Christian Crusaders.
It is likely that the grape
crossed with
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...
to produce the pink-skinned
Misket Varnenski grape variety.
[J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 228 Oxford University Press 2006 ]
Wine regions
The Dimyat grape is almost exclusively grown in Bulgaria with vineyards mostly in the south and eastern parts of the country.
It is most widely planted in the
Chirpan,
Preslav
The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...
and
Shumen regions around the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
.
[Vines Encyclopedia ']
Dimiat
"'' Accessed: December 16th, 2009 Other Bulgarian wine regions growing some Dimyat include
Haskovo
Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...
and
Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria
**Varna Province
**Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
**Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
*Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
*Varniai, a city in Lithuania
* Varna (Šaba ...
.
[J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 260 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ] After Rkatsiteli, it is the second most widely planted white grape variety with over 23,720 acres (9,600 hectares) planted in 2005.
![Thrace modern state boundaries](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Thrace_modern_state_boundaries.png)
Outside of Bulgaria, there is small plantings of the variety in the neighbouring
Greek wine
Greece is one of the oldest wine- producing regions in the world and among the first wine-producing territories in Europe. The earliest evidence of Greek wine has been dated to 6,500 years ago region of
Thraki
Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...
(part of what was the historical region of Thrace). Here Dimyat is known under its synonym of ''Zoumiatiko.''
[Greek Winemakers ]
Thraki wine region profile
"'' Accessed: December 16th, 2009
Viticulture and winemaking
The Dimiat vine is characterized by the large size of the individual grape berries with the potential for high
yields if not kept in check.
During ''
veraison
In viticulture, veraison (french: véraison, ) is the onset of the ripening of the grapes. The official definition of ''veraison'' is "change of color of the grape berries". Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, ...
'', the berries turn
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
yellow.
In addition to being used in the production of table wines, Dimiat is often
distilled to produce Bulgarian
brandy (''
rakia'').
Wines
Dimiat wines are usually
light bodied and very aromatic. The wines are usually made with some level of
sweetness ranging from off-dry to very sweet.
In Bulgaria, some
dessert wine
Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert.
There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...
s are made from Dimiat.
The wine is often served very chilled and is usually consumed young, without much
aging.
Synonyms
The various
synonyms of Dimiat include-Ahorntraube, Beglerdia, Beglezsia, Bekaszaju, Bekaszölö, Belezsi, Belina, Belina krupna, Belogollandskii, Belogollanskii, Bemena, Bois Jaune, Damiat, Damjat, Damjat bial, Debela lipovina, Dertonia, Dertonija, Dertonilia, Dimiate, Dimjat, Drobna Lipovscina, Dymiat, Fehér Szemendriai, Galan, Koplik, Krupna belina, Laschka, Laska belina, Mana Kuki, Misket de Silven, Misket Slivenski, Nagyvögü, Pamid, Pamit, Parmac, Plovdina, Plovdina esküska, Plovdina eskulska, Saricibuk, Plovdiska, Podbelec, Podbeuz, Radoviska plovdina, Roscara, Rosiora, Saratchobok, Saridzibuk, Semendra, Semendria, Semendru, Senederevka, Smederevka, Smederevka bianca, Smederevka bijela, Smederevka white, Szemendriai féher, Szemendriai Zöld, Szemendrianer, Tök szöllö, Töksölö, Tökszölö, Töröklugas, Wippacher, Wippacher ahornblättrig, Yapalaki, Zarja, Zmedervka, Zoumiatico, Zoumiatis, Zumjat, Zumjatiko and Zumyat.
Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...
(VIVC
Dimiat
. Accessed: December 16th, 2009
References
{{reflist
White wine grape varieties
Bulgarian wine
Grape varieties of Bulgaria