Cultural Tours Bulgaria, small logo
Cultural Tours Bulgaria
Whether you go for a private tour or you form a group, our travel experts will assist you in the planning of your customized itinerary. For tour enquiries click here.

Travel News
 Hot or Upcoming in Bulgaria

Bulgarian wine cellar tours provide an excellent means of sightseeing

Date: 06-11-2006

Bulgaria has been gaining in popularity as a destination for wine cellar tours alongside its magnificent landscape and rich cultural and historical heritage. Many of present-day Bulgarian winemakers have opened wine sampling salons offering their numerous guests a chance to indulge in the exquisite quality, taste and flavour of the Bulgarian red and white wines.

The first scene of wine tasting in Bulgarian literature dates back to the opening of the 19th c. and the town of Lyaskovetz, near the medieval capital of Veliko Tarnovo and was part of the “Marriage” novelette by Bulgarian author Tzani Ginchev.

Bulgaria prides itself on millennia-old legacy in winemaking. Archaeological finds first attest to the winemaking traditions of the ancient Thracian civilization. Not long ago an ancient Roman grape press from the 3rd c. A.D. was dug out near the town of Lyaskovetz attesting to the early wine-making traditions of the region.

At the turn of the 20th c. the Bulgarian merchants used to export wines all over Europe. It was at that time that the first large cellars in the country emerged. The famous Melnik wine from Southwesternmost Bulgaria enjoyed particular popularity, and some of the local elderly residents have kept vivid memories of the time when Sir Winston Churchill placed his regular annual orders of 500 l of that wine.


A wine receptacle in the form of a female head discovered by the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and dated 25 centuries ago.
Press-Photo: BTA

BNR.BG

Any of the vine growing regions on the contemporary Bulgarian map is attractive and boasts peculiar grapes varieties. That is why the direction you will hit on your personal wine cellar tour depends entirely on your personal taste for wine. Northern Bulgaria is famous for its Gumza variety, known as Kadarka in Central Europe. Its wines are full-bodied, with a robust ruby colour and a mild fruit flavour. Eastern Bulgaria on the other hand is better known for its white wines, of which Dimyat is the most widely spread. The vast-leaf Melnik vine is being grown only along the Struma River in Southwestern Bulgaria.

The Thracian plain with its abundance of architectural and historical landmarks, as well as many wine cellars not only offers wine sampling tours, but also a variety of sightseeing tours of the region, too. Mavrud is very typical of the northern part of the Rhodope Mountain, known as the Mountain of Orpheus. This grape variety is unique in the world and its wine is by far outplaying the Bordeaux, Tuscany and Lombardian wines.

Legend has it that during the reign of Khan Krum all vineyards were ordered destroyed. Later, a lion escaped from its cage and terrorized the city. However, a fearless young man named Mavrud confronted and slew the beast. The king summoned Mavrud's mother to learn the source of such courage. She said she secretly saved a vine, made wine, and that was the source of his bravery. Khan Krum ordered the vineyards replanted.

BACK