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ROSÉ BY ROSALEA WINERY<br />
THE VINEYARDS AT KAPATOVO<br />
The revolution and development of the Bulgarian wine industry has begun. It all started<br />
in the late 1990s with the development of a clutch of new estates. New vineyards were<br />
planted and wineries built, in some cases with EU funding. There are now 400+ wineries<br />
registered, and the number continues to climb year-on-year.<br />
A WINE MAP IN TRANSITION…<br />
Legal definitions enacted in 1960 divided Bulgaria into five main wine regions, each one with<br />
different and unique soil types, specific grape varieties as well as climatic conditions. The<br />
regions were, the Danube Plain, the Black Sea Coast, the Rose Valley, the Thracian Valley and<br />
Struma Valley. However since August 16, 2005, the country has been divided into two main<br />
regions to produce Protected Geographic Indication wines or PGIs: PGI Danube Plain (25%<br />
of total area under vine) and PGI Thracian Lowlands (75% of total acreage), where the Balkan<br />
Mountains were used as a natural border to split the country into the Northern and Southern<br />
regions. Many wine professionals still refer to the five wine regions pre-2005 when talking<br />
about wine. There is currently a movement led by local wine professionals, the media and<br />
winegrowers’ associations supporting the idea of dividing Bulgaria back into five regions,<br />
or even into nine regions: North-West, Danube Plain, North Black Sea Coast, South Black<br />
Sea Coast, East Thracian Valley, West Thracian Valley, Rose Valley, Sakar, and Struma Valley.<br />
WINEMAKING<br />
Bulgaria is now fairly well-versed in modern winemaking techniques, for example using<br />
temperature controlled stainless steel fermenters. The wines can be aged in a variety of<br />
French, American, Hungarian and Bulgarian oak barrels. Bulgaria adopted the concept<br />
of terroir rather late, after 2000. Today, most of the new wineries produce wines from<br />
their own vineyards. Yields are still low since most of the vineyards are young and not<br />
at their peak.<br />
46 SUMMER 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE <strong>FR</strong>ENCH EXPERTS ON WINE