Bulgaria was the world’s fourth-largest wine exporter in the 1980s, and most of the production was in bulk and destinated to the USSR, but the industry starts to decline when During 1985–87, Mikhail Gorbachev carried out an anti-alcohol campaign with partial prohibition, colloquially known as the “dry law”. Prices of vodka, wine, and beer were raised, and their sales were restricted in amount and time of day.
The past 2020, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, was a good yet difficult year for Bulgarian vine growers and wine makers. It was also quite dry, which created conditions for a good grape harvest. This was summarized for BTA by Prof. Ivan Pachev – director of the only Institute of Viticulture and Enology in Bulgaria.Worldwide, wine tourism has seen incredible growth over the last years, almost everyone has stumbled upon at least one ad for a wine tour, wine tasting, wine experience. As wine connoisseurs and people who enjoy it, we strive to practice wine tourism. We do it as ethical, responsible and reasonable as possible, although it is clear that wine attracts only good people and is supposed to be harmless by design. Fortunately, we live in Bulgaria, where wine-making and wine tourism are also outperforming themselves, constantly improving and being able to give you a world-class wine experience. Without further ado, let’s move on to the list of wine events and wineries in Bulgaria that we visited and went through in search of great wine experiences (and memories, but they may be missing due to the nature of the activity).
