As a traveler who has been exploring Eastern Europe for the past few years, I've had the pleasure of discovering some hidden gems in the world of wine. However, I'll never forget the first time I tasted wine from the region. It was a warm summer evening, and I was dining on the leafy patio of a fine restaurant in Cluj Napoca, Romania. The server suggested I try a glass made from Feteasca Neagra grapes grown in the eastern part of the country, not far from Moldova. As someone who is passionate about exploring different types of wine, I was especially excited to try this varietal that I had never even heard of before.
As I sipped the wine, I was surprised by how well-crafted and good it tasted. The flavors were complex, with notes of dark fruit and a subtle hint of spice. I couldn't help but wonder about the story behind this winery and the Feteasca Neagra grape it was made from.
A few weeks later, I found myself at another restaurant, this time in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. I was curious and ordered a bottle of Bulgarian wine from the Borotvitza Winery made from Gamza grapes, another varietal that I had never heard of before. Once again, I was astounded by the quality of the wine produced in a former communist country. The wine was rich and full-bodied, with a distinct character that I found intriguing.
After that experience, I made a promise to myself that I would return to this part of the world and ride my motorcycle through the mostly unknown wine regions of Romania and former Soviet countries. My goal would be to learn about the wines, but more importantly, to learn about the people making the wines and others working in the local wine industry as wellas in the culinary arts.
In 2019, I returned to Bulgaria and had the pleasure of exploring its old, yet newly emerging, wine regions. I crossed the border from Greece to Bulgaria near the Struma River Valley, which is one of Bulgaria's up-and-coming wine regions. During my three-week journey across the country, meeting winemakers, sommeliers, and chefs, I witnessed a new generation taking risks, experimenting, and pushing the old guard in new directions. The evolution of the wine business since the break-up of the Soviet Union is significant, and it's clear that Bulgaria is writing a new chapter in its winemaking history.
To learn more about its winemaking history and to provide further context to my recent experience traveling the length of the country, I met with Marin Atanasov, a sommelier and brand ambassador for the Brand Marketing Organization World Wines, in the popular coastal city of Varna on the Black Sea Coast. We met at a shaded café in a quiet neighborhood, away from the main drag.
Marin guided me through a fast-track "master class" of Bulgarian wine while we snacked on cheese and cured meats and tasted the beautiful bottle of Pamid I had been carrying for well over a week. Dimitar at Zagreus Winery had given me the bottle as a gift, and I was excited to introduce one of the most passionate Bulgarian wine ambassadors and sommeliers in the country to Zagreus Winery's "Hand Made" wines, which Marin had not yet tried.
He is a wealth of knowledge and runs me through the history of winemaking in Bulgaria. From the Thracians who discovered winemaking around 3000 BC to the many dark periods of wine, Bulgaria’s wine history is rich. There was a halt in wine production in the late 1300s when the Ottomans began their 500-year rule. Then, after its liberation from the Turks in 1879, Bulgaria entered a period of a wine renaissance. Yet even that abruptly halted in 1900 because of the worldwide phylloxera epidemic.
As the world recovered and introduced new varietals, Bulgarian winemakers studied in France. They brought international and phylloxera-resistant rootstock and varietals to the country while establishing local cooperatives in the model of South France. Then during the Soviet period, the government set up large state-owned monopolies, and by the 1950s, Bulgaria declared the wine industry an economic priority.
Through scientific and agricultural institutions set up in Pleven and Sandanski, Bulgaria developed new varietals through the crossing of several international and local varietals, including reds such as Rubin, Melnik 55, Ruen, and Bouget. They also identified and established five unique wine regions and underwent an aggressive vineyard planting program of both Eastern European and international varietals. In 1970 legendary wine critic Hugh Johnson recognized the potential of Bulgaria’s wine industry, writing that its white wines were better than its reds. By 1980, Bulgaria was the fourth-largest wine producer in the world and the largest in the eastern bloc. Bulgaria was also the first country in the world to market wines using varietal names such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and others.
Disaster hit again in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev carried out an anti-alcohol campaign. Known as the “dry law” it was not unlike Prohibition in the United States. The government ripped up vineyards throughout the Soviet Union and decimated the production of wine and distilled spirits.
With the fall of communism, some five years later, Bulgaria struggled to regain its status and revitalize its wine industry. This hasn’t been easy. Because so many people fled Bulgaria during communism, the process of identifying and returning the land to owners before communism was complicated. Even today, vast swaths of land in ideal agricultural areas remain uncultivated and barren, if not abandoned. Mostly, winegrowers did not make wine. So rather than focus on harvesting vines at optimum ripeness for winemaking, they harvested them too soon for fear of bad weather destroying the fruit. This, among other factors, resulted in a shortage of quality grapes, which created fierce competition and even theft of grapes. So during the first ten years after communism, Bulgarian wines were barely drinkable — lean, green, and under-ripe.
After Bulgaria’s admission to the EU in 2007, economic programs offered growers and wineries funding for up to 50% of the investment required. Over the next ten years, Bulgaria’s wine industry matured as vineyards came online, and winemakers experimented and embraced the notion of terroir-driven, organic, and blended wines.
Established in 2005 to address European Law, Bulgaria currently recognizes just two PGIs. (map courtesy of Marin Atanasov and Brand Marketing Organization World Wines)
In 2007, Bulgaria designated two protected geographical indications (PGI) and 52 protected designations of origin to comply with European Union law. Marin agrees that the current classification of just two PGIs is contentious. Those regions do not appear to be based on any research or science. In looking at a map of Bulgaria and its two PGIs, it seems as if someone drew a horizontal line across the center of the country.
As for the considerable amount of PDOs, only Spain, Italy, and France recognize more than Bulgaria. Those countries have more developed wine industries, and wineries use PDO classifications on labels to communicate the distinctness of its wines based on uniqueness defined by place or terroir. However, in Bulgaria, practically nobody uses PDO classifications on labels.
Marin tells me most winemakers recognize distinct differences in the five regional designations established before Bulgaria ascended into the EU. Some propose that Bulgaria renew the prior designations, while others propose an even more detailed vision of nine PGIs.
“The Bulgarian wine map is in transition,” says Marin. “I think we are moving from a micro to a macro phase,” he says. “I expect it will get more detailed soon.”
Despite its tumultuous past, Bulgaria's wine industry is making a comeback. In the last ten years, vineyards have come online, and winemakers are experimenting with terroir-driven, organic, and blended wines. The Bulgarian wine map is in transition, and I expect to see more detailed classifications in the future. As I explored the country, with each wine I tasted and winemaker I chatted with, it’s evident that Bulgaria’s wine business is in transition and growing. There’s no doubt that Bulgaria has a rich history of winemaking dating back thousands of years. The evolution of the wine business since the fall of communism is fascinating. It hasn’t been easy for today’s vineyard managers, winery owners, and winemakers to transition from that legacy. It took some entrepreneurs ten and even twenty years to purchase sufficient contiguous plots of land to plant new vineyards. As those vineyards mature, especially in the last ten years, it’s clear Bulgaria is writing a new chapter in its winemaking history.
Take note of the wines from Bulgaria and its neighboring Eastern-bloc countries. Welcome to the "new" old world of wine.