WINE TOURISM IN BULGARIA

WINE TOURISM

The term “wine tourism” has appeared in the early 90s of the last century, and even if this sounds strange today, the creators of this modern tourism type are not the traditional wine authorities, but some countries of the so called New World. The combination of wine-producing with tourism is a lucky idea of producers from Australia and California. Wineries that are not so big (with annual production between 100 and 300 thousand bottles) predominate there, whereas they do not count on the big trade chains and manage to increase their cellar door sales through organizing of wine weekends and tours. At this moment almost 35% of the production of most Australian cellars is being realized in this way, whereas the annual turnover of wine tourism in the country is about USD 3,6 billions. The wineries in Napa Valley and Sonoma (California) are being visited by almost 18 million tourists annually, whereas most of them are Americans. It is true that the including of some famous wine regions and wineries in tourist routes is a much older tourist practice in Europe, but it hasn’t been developed as a separate business, and has rather been a part of the universal understanding of tourism as traveling and pleasure.

The pioneer experience of the Australian and Californian wineries proved itself to be contagious and in the late 90s almost all significant wine authorities in the world orientated towards this new tourism type. The wine tours with interesting lectures about wine production technologies, held by an enologist in front of the shining bins or in front of the barrels in the soft half-light of the cellars and ending obligatory with a tasting, held according to all professional rules, have become an energetically offered tourist product in Argentina, Chile, South Africa, as well as in old wine-producing countries like France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Even a country like Turkey, whose traditional culture is not connected to the wine, has been trying its abilities in this sphere for a few years. The great horizon in front of the wine tourism became apparent with the big success of the American movie “Sideways” (2004, director Alexander Payne) – a funny story about the adventures of two wine enthusiasts in California. Its presentation in USA has lead to a sales increase of Pinot Noir (the favorite wine sort of the one character), and the restaurants, where the action takes place, have been booked for months ahead.

The first steps of the wine tourism in Bulgaria have been made in the late 90s. At that time a couple of wineries like “Damianitsa”, “Lyaskovets Winery”, “Osmar” and “Dimyat – Varna” started offering organized degustations for tourist groups. Gradually, their trial was followed by other wineries, whereas some tour operators orientated permanently toward the development of this new product. At this moment almost 20 wineries offer an opportunity for organized tourist visits with degustations and other attractions, whereas other wineries worth mentioning in addition to the above described are “Todorov” wine cellar and “Villa Vinifera” in the village of Brestovitsa, Plovdiv region, “Rozova dolina” wine cellar – Karlovo, “Sinite skali” winery in Sliven, “Chernomorsko Zlato” Vinprom – Pomorie. The observations show that until 3-4 years ago the wine tourists in Bulgaria have been mainly foreigners, but today the proportion is equal, which is a clear indication about the perspectives in this new sphere. At present vine-growing and wine-production in Bulgaria enjoy a remarkable investors’ interest. Most cellars have their own vineyards and count on good profits thanks to high-quality wines, which they sell directly to elite restaurants and enthusiastic connoisseurs. Their owners understand that exactly the wine tours are one of the ways the production of these small new cellars to become well-known and much demanded.

The wine tourism is a specific product – it combines traveling, the main goal of which is wine degustation, with something else – culture, history, beautiful nature and good cooking. Most often all these things come together, so that they create a complete wine experience. It is very hard for a wine to be appreciated, if everything else around it isn’t nice, beautiful, interesting or at least curious. Always and everywhere in the world the wine has been perceived like a part of a certain historical, cultural, religious, technological and gastronomical context. The wine tourism stresses namely on this specific character and because of that, the profile of the clients is specific too – most often these are educated, intelligent, solvent people, who have passed the age of the first successes in life. Often these people are trying to catch the spirit of the region or the country through the tastes of the local wines. In a metaphorical plan it could be said that the wine is the liquid sample of the national mentality. That is why the German Riesling is made very accurately, most French wines seem aristocratic, the Italian and the Spanish are temperament, and the Californian and Australian, being deliberated from the suffocating hug of the traditions, have entered the field of modern technologies with no prejudices and have achieved results that make the others not only to conform with them, but to imitate them, too.

The happy fitting between the pleasure of the wine taste and the pleasure of the travel entangles the interests of wine producers, tradesmen, farmers, restaurateurs, tourist agencies, hotel-keepers, advertising agencies, journalists and other attendant activities. All this makes the wine tourism a very attracting business. Not only for its good wines, but also for its history that is closely connected to the European one, Bulgaria might become one of the most attractive destinations in this branch. Many of the Thracian monuments, found on Bulgaria’s territory, are connected in some way or another to the production and consumption of wine in the antiquity.
We are talking about wall-paintings like the dinner scene in the Kazanlak tomb, different bas-reliefs with wine subjects, ritual gold and silver sets for wine drinking and hundreds of others archaeological monuments, which show the figure of the cheerful God Dionysius, who had been an original Thracian divinity before he conquered the antique Greek-Roman world. A special interest represents his sanctuary that was discovered a few years ago in the holy Thracian city Perperikon, near Kardjali, and is dated from II. Millennium BC. Many ancient Greek and Roman writers have described this place as equally important as Apollo’s sanctuary in Delphi, and the archaeologists think that its discovery has an equal scientific importance as the discovery of Troy and Mycenae. Not less interesting is the Thracian temple-tomb, discovered in 2000 near Starosel, a couple of kilometers away from Hisarya. Scientists assume that the Odryssian King Sitalk was buried there. The wine equipment is impressive. It is distinguished by a 5-meter-high wine tub. In contrast to many other fields, in which the communications development helped the world become smaller and closer and to look like “a global village”, if we use this popular phrase, the globalization has an opposite effect in the wine field. This process practically widened and keeps widening the wine geography. If 25 years ago it has been characteristic for all wine countries that they were drinking mostly local wines and the foreign ones were rather an extravagant luxury or filled up gustative niches that the local industry had left empty, it is now not only a question of honor for producers, tradesmen and connoisseurs, but also an intellectual challenge to know the wines of “the other one”. The big producing countries import wines from all over the world to satisfy this demand. The Bulgarian market is already a part of this tendency and since a few years ago trademarks from all leading wine countries can be found on the wine shelves.

In the far past some French wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the valleys of Loire and Rona were considered a standard for typical and preferred tastes. Today every one of the wine-producing countries can boast something typically own, which is loved and sought after by connoisseurs. Some wines, like Malbek from Argentina, Zinfandel from California, Shiraz from Australia, Pinotage and Chenin Blanc from South Africa or Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand are subject to lively comments about the unsuspected characteristics of these sorts since a few years ago. The reason is not hard to explain. With the widening of the wine geography, the variety of soils and micro-climates that give new interesting tastes has grown. There is no doubt that Bulgaria will say its word about the potential of some sorts and will add its own coloring to the general image of the modern wine world. When this happens, the special merit will be to the development of the wine tourism.