The lifestyle magazine Falstaff covered in an article the winemaking development and traditions in the Black Sea region with focus on Bulgaria
The specialized food, drinks and lifestyle magazine Falstaff recently covered in an article the winemaking development and traditions in the Black Sea region with focus on Bulgaria. Below is a resume of the original article “Treasures of the Black Sea” with focus on Bulgaria and Domain Bessa Valley.
Bulgaria with its interesting local grape varieties, but also with wines from the classic varieties, continues to conquer a growing wine market. It is only fitting that the US “Wine Enthusiast” recently placed the Thracian lowlands with its capital, the city of Plovdiv, as one of its top 10 wine destinations in 2017.
No wonder: after all the wine god Dionysus came from the ancient Thrace. The tradition of viticulture has existed here for thousands of years. When the Romans came to the region, they could only be amazed. It was not they who brought the wine but in Thrace they already found the best-ordered vineyards and fine varieties. The rich wines from the Thracian lowlands and the Danube Region, from the Struma Valley and the Black Sea have been found for some time in the qualified specialist trade and in some star restaurants in Europe and overseas. They are produced from the local grape varieties of Bulgaria such as Pamid, Misket, Dimyat, Gamza, Mawrud, Melnik, Rubin and Shiroka Melnishka Loza, or the internationally known varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Potential investors from Germany and abroad recognized winegrowing as a medium to long-term investment opportunity. The style of the wines is increasingly gaining in quality, they have also brought top consultants into the country. Since 2011, the Italianstar oenologist Riccardo Cotarella has been working for the Logodaj Winery on the Macedonian border in the south-west of the country, Castra Rubra and Telish attracted the world’s most famous “flying winemaker” Michel Rolland from Bordeaux. The French-born Marc Dworkin is the responsible oenologist, who also works for Alira in Romania, for the Domaine Bessa Valley (Enira), an internationally renowned wine estate founded by Stephan Graf Neipperg and Karl-Heinz Hauptmann. The course for an international breakthrough of Bulgarian wines has already been made. Premium wineries such as Angel’s Estate, Bessa Valley or Midalidare Estate are impressive examples of the fact that the country will be among the European top players in the foreseeable future.
More information can be found in the original article from Falstaff.