Bulgarian wine - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

growing and wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

production have a long history in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, dating back to the times of the Thracians

Thracians

The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...

. Wine is, together with beer

Bulgarian beer

The modern history of beer in Bulgaria dates back to the 19th century, when it was introduced to the country by foreigners shortly before the Liberation of Bulgaria. Until then, beer was practically unknown in what used to be a mainly rakia and wine-drinking country...

and grape rakia

Rakia

Rakia is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by distillation of fermented fruit; it is a popular beverage throughout the Balkans. Its alcohol content is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger . Prepečenica is double-distilled rakia which has an alcohol content that may...

, among the most popular alcoholic beverages in the country.

Viticultural regions

A government decree of 13 July 1960 officially divided Bulgaria into five distinct viticultural regions.

Danubian Plain (North Bulgarian)

The Danubian Plain

Danubian Plain (Bulgaria)

The Danubian Plain constitutes the northern part of Bulgaria, situated north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube. Its western border is the Timok River and to the east it borders the Black Sea. The plain has an area of . It is about long and wide.The relief of the Danubian Plain is...

or North Bulgarian region encompasses the south banks of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

and the central and western parts of the Danubian Plain. The climate of the area is temperate continental, has a hot summer and many sunny days a year. Typical styles are Muscat Ottonel

Muscat (grape and wine)

The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...

, Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Aligoté

Aligoté

Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines in the Burgundy region of France, and which also has significant plantings in much of Eastern Europe including Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria. With , it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world in 2004...

, Pamid

Pamid

Pamid is an old grape variety used for red wine. It has been cultivated in Bulgaria since the times of the ancient Thracians. In the past, it was the most widely spread Bulgarian variety, but today its plantations are highly limited. Pamid is also cultivated in Yugoslavia, Albania, Turkey, Greece,...

and the local Gamza.

Black Sea (East Bulgarian)

The Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

region is where 30% of all vines are located. The region is characterized by long and mild autumns that are a favourable condition for the accumulation of sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

s to make fine white wine (53% of all white wine varietals are concentrated in the region). Wine styles include Dimyat, Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

, Muscat Ottonel, Ugni blanc, Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

, Traminer, and Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz, and in French it is written '...

Rose Valley (Sub-Balkan)

The Rose Valley

Rose Valley, Bulgaria

The Rose Valley is a region in Bulgaria located just south of the Balkan Mountains and the eastern part of the lower Sredna Gora chain to the south...

region is located south of the Balkan Mountains

Balkan Mountains

The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...

. It is divided into an eastern and western subregion, with styles such as Muscatel, Riesling, Rkatsiteli

Rkatsiteli

Rkatsiteli is a kind of grape used to produce white wine.-History:This ancient vinifera originates in Georgia and is one of the oldest grape varieties...

, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominating. The region mostly produces dry and off-dry white wine and less red wine. The region includes the Sungurlare Valley, famous for its wine from the Red Misket

Red Misket

Misket Cherven, meaning Red Misket, is a variety of grape used for wine. It is a white wine grape, but has a pinkish skin colour. It is spread in the Sub-Balkan Bulgarian wine regions. It is considered to be an old local variety, cultivated nowadays mainly in the Sungurlare Valley, and the Karlovo...

grape variety.

Thracian Lowland (South Bulgarian)

The temperate continental climate in the area and the favourable distribution of precipitation are good premises for the developed red wine growing in the lowlands of Upper Thrace. The region includes the central part of the lowland, as well as parts of the Sakar

Sakar

Sakar is a mountain in southeastern Bulgaria, between the rivers Maritsa, Tundzha, Sokolitsa and Sazliyka and close to the borders with Greece and Turkey. The mountain's highest peak is Vishegrad at 856 m....

mountain. Mavrud

Mavrud

Mavrud is a red wine grape that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines, indigenous to the region of Thrace in Bulgaria.The grape has been described as a characterful, low-yielding, small-berried and late-ripening grape capable of producing tannic, spicy wine with a potential for...

, a famous local wine, as well as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscatel and Pamid are grown.

The Balkan Mountains serve to block the cold winds blowing from the plains of Russia, and the region to the south of the Balkans, the valley drained by the Maritsa River, has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers.

Struma River Valley (Southwest Bulgarian)

The region includes the southwestern parts of Bulgaria, the valley of the river Struma

Struma River

The Struma or Strymónas is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymōn . Its catchment area is 10,800 km²...

in the historical region of Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. The area is small in size, but is climatically very distinct and characteristic, owing to the strong Mediterranean

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

influence from the south. The local style Shiroka melnishka loza (taking its name from Melnik

Melnik, Bulgaria

Melnik is a town in Blagoevgrad Province, southwestern Bulgaria, in the southwestern Pirin Mountains, about 440 m above sea level. The town is an architectural reserve and 96 of its buildings are cultural monuments...

), as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are cultivated.

External links

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