Blend & diversity
Archaeology, folklore and literature have left numerous evidences of vine planting and wine production on the Bulgarian territory since ancient times. The Thracian wine from the Black Sea region or the city of Ismarus along Struma river was first mentioned by Homer in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The wall inscriptions in the Thracian tomb in Kazanlak, the images on the items of the world-known Thracian golden treasures, and many other artefacts testify that Thracians worshipped this divine drink.
Bulgarians inherited the experience and the traditions of the local population in the cultivation of grapes and wine-production. The winery that was found in the region of Preslav dating back from the 7th – 10th century is a testimony of that and the first in Europe prohibitionist law imposed by the Khan Kroum (804-814).
In the Middle ages the greater part of the vineyards in Bulgaria were possession of the monasteries. The wine-making tradition continued during the ruling of the Ottoman Empire when the cult to the wine overruled the strict Islamic canons. In 1978 Bulgaria was recognized as the fourth largest wine producer in the World.
Bulgaria produces typical wine sorts of international quality (White Misket, Tamianka, Dimyat, Red Misket, Mavrud, Melnik, Gamza, Pamid) apart from the well-known European sorts of wine (Aligote, Muskat Ottonel, Rkatziteli, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer, Chardonnay, Ugni Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pino Noir).
The wine & culinary sampling sessions of our tours give you the opportunity to travel in the wine regions of Bulgaria and taste the variety of high-quality wines produced of Bulgarian grapes and wineries, to enjoy the traditional local meals and relish wine with a tasty, ecologically pure food. Several sorts of white and red wine are sampled, and sometimes one or two rakiya brands (if produced in the same winery) accompanied by the right appetizers. Experienced specialists tell the story of the winery, the production technology, the characteristics and the qualities of the produced wine and give advice to new wine tasters.
Our tourist packages include lunch or dinner and folklore program and demonstration of traditional Bulgarian crafts. If you would like to shatter all the usual stereotypical images of Balkans, then our deluxe wine tours are just for you!