Bulgaria - Modern Wines, Ancient History

Wine school founder Jimmy Smith will be presenting 10 carefully selected Bulgarian wines from the Thracian Lowlands PGI, one of the two prominent wine growing regions in the country. The Thracians, an ethno-cultural community, originally settled in present day Bulgaria over 6,000 years ago and we have learnt much about them through their wine traditions.

They worshipped Dionysus - the Greek god of grapes and wine. Wine became symbolic of the rebirth and immortality of the human soul, such that they had a ritual of drinking sacred wine in specially made amphorae.

This promises to be a memorable and exciting tasting - these wines don’t often make it on to our shores so it’s one you won’t want to miss! You’ll enjoy the chance to taste a vibrant range of Bulgaria’s Thracian native grape varieties - Sandanski Misket, Mavrud and Melnik - alongside some of the more well-known international grapes.

Wines on tasting

1. ZLATENROZHEN - ‘Sandstone’

2. MINKOV - Brother-Cycle: Traminer

3. BURGOZONE - Cote du Danube: Viognier

4. AYA ESTATE - Colorito

5. BONONIA ESTATE - 'Istar' Chardonnay

6. VINEX SLAVIANTSI - 'Leva' Cabernet-Merlot

7. CHATEAU COPSA - 'Stradivarius Rouge' Cabernet-Syrah-Merlot

8. DOMAINE BOYAR - Reserve Merlot

9. KATARZYNA ESTATE - Cheval de Katarzyna: Mavrud

10. RUPEL WINERY - 'Tendenz' Melnik-Marselan