🍇 Buket

Buket is a Bulgarian red wine grape. It was obtained in 1951 in an experimental vineyard in the town of Septemvri by crossing Mavrud with Pinot Noir; the variety was then studied at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology in Pleven, and the state variety commission approved it as new. VIVC names the Pleven institute as the breeder and gives the pedigree according to the breeder: it has not yet been confirmed by DNA markers.

Its synonyms include Bouquet and Bouket. Buket ripens in mid-September. The berries are small, about 1.2 g, dark blue, with a thick skin and a dense waxy bloom. The vine tolerates frost well and resists berry splitting and grey rot, but it is sensitive to phylloxera, fungal diseases and drought. According to VIVC, Bulgaria had 259 ha of the variety (2008), and 8 collections hold samples.

Researchers in Pleven compared Buket with other hybrids from their institute — Storgoziya, Kaylashki Rubin, Trapezitsa and Rubin — over the 2016–2018 harvests, using Pinot Noir as the control. The hybrid wines contained 2–4 times more anthocyanins than the control wine, and the Buket wine had the most trans-resveratrol among them: 2.70 mg/dm³.

Why it matters to you. Buket accumulates 21–24 % sugar, so it gives intensely coloured, extract-rich red wines with a harmonious taste — both table and dessert wines. In the same study, tasters placed the Buket wine among the three best-rated. Another Bulgarian variety, Storgoziya, descends from it.