You are on vacation in Bulgaria, and you are a wine enthusiast? But you haven’t tried any of the local sorts of wines yet? Hurry up! The classic tastes of Mavrud, Melnik 55, Rubin, Gymza are waiting for you! And you can easily find them in every store. So which one do you prefer? The Mavrud is a little bit heavy, but the Rubin has the highest amount of antioxidants, making it a healthy choice for a drink! (For your health! Cheers!) If you are alone in the store or looking at the online shop, and you have to choose a wine to buy: Don’t be afraid! We are here to help! If you want to know more about the best Bulgarian wineries and the local wines that you have to try, we will guide you through our favorites and the most famous ones.
In Bulgaria, there are two regions for the production of regional wines: The Danube Plain and the Thracian Lowland. On the wine labels, the cellars are obliged to indicate that the wine originates from one of these two extensive regions. However, Bulgaria is characterized by a great variety of relief, climate, soils, and wine traditions. For this reason, smaller areas with typical wines can be separated. And we have some favorite local wine producers offering quality wines and great wine experiences. So let’s see the best Bulgarian wineries that you should check.
One of the most awarded Bulgarian cellars – Katarzyna Estate
South in Bulgaria, near the border with Greece (although still young, created in 2006), this cellar is one of the most awarded in Bulgaria with medals from all over the world. They offer a wide range of wines – red and white, organic, Reserve, many sorts that we haven’t tried them all… yet!
Katarzyna Estate still doesn’t have a hotel to the existing restaurant. Nevertheless, soon it has to be built and ready for us (and all the other wine lovers.)
Since 2020 the winery has had a new place in the center of Sofia – “La Maison de KATARZYNA” wine & tapas, where you can taste and buy all of their wines. Everyone can find some perfect presents there – wooden boxes with one or many selected wines for the holidays. Are you choosing a wine for the new meal you are planning? Are you searching for a more expensive bottle to make a good impression of a person with a good wine taste? It doesn’t matter the reason – we recommend the Katarzyna. Don’t trust us! Go and try them!
The perfect combination of SPA and wine – Starosel
One of our favorite wineries in Bulgaria! The most expensive bottle is still on the list to try, but the others were (and are) always a safe option. The stylish red MILLESIME and the dark bottle of red wine without a label are frequently our choices for a present when we visit friends. The dark one is a remarkable selection of Merlot with only 300 bottles from each French oak cask.
If you would like to taste the fantastic wines of Starosel, you can take a trip to the winery. It is a lovely complex that we really love not only for SPA procedures but also for enriching our wine knowledge. You can see the whole winemaking process, rest in nature, and taste their production with classy dishes helping you feel like gods. (I am not sure about you, but when I get drunk, I get smarter, higher, wiser, funnier than ever, more handsome, I get closer to the truth about our life and its meaning…)
Relax & Amusement at Midalidare
Midalidare Estate is another Bulgarian winery that we recommend. It is a complex of a winery, a hotel with a SPA area, and a restaurant. What more can we ask for? More wine? They have it! Some visitors state the wine tasting tour allows you to get to know eight different wines. But, of course, we cannot trust them; we have to go there and check it! We also love checking all the attractive pools and (o, yeah!) all restaurants the people recommend us! (I looove checking the breakfasts the different hotels offer and all types of local food they have.)
The Kingdom of Raspberry – Trastena
How about a 100% raspberry wine? Or the one with raspberry and Merlot? Or the raspberry rose? One of the first and most famous producers of such wines in Bulgaria is the Trastena winery. The taste is very fruity, and we cannot say if this is why the bottle goes empty so fast. The winemakers offer customized labels, which is very useful for many companies to surprise their employees or customers. It can be an original present for special occasions. Another offer we admire is the “Taste it” package with 375ml of the three wines they produce. So you can try and purchase a big box with the one you like the most. (Oh, yes, you see in the photos, we love this Bulgarian winery and bought a couple of bottles).
The Korten boutique winery
Korten – a boutique Bulgarian winery with many awards. We wait for the owners to develop the cellar as part of Bulgaria’s wine tourism to visit them. If you have the opportunity, don’t miss the chance and try one of their limited editions and the special Reserves. According to one of the most recognized Bulgarian wine ratings, the Grand Vintage was selected as the best red wine in Bulgaria for 2018. The bottles from the single barrel collections can also be considered a proper choice for a present for you or your friends.
History of wine – Bessa Valey (Enira)
French winemakers (the one with a heritage of 800 years in the industry) producing wine in Bulgaria. 2500 years ago, this was the valley of the Bessians, the most rebellious of Thracians. About 80% of the wine is exported, but the rest is in almost all stores. One of their most prominent bottles is the red Enira Reserva (best red wine for 2019). In the 2021 wine cellar Bessa Valley won the prize “Golden Cellar of Bulgaria” for 2020. If you want to try their quality wines, you can reserve a wine tour with wine tasting, but, unfortunately, the winery still doesn’t offer a hotel area.
Be careful with the organization of your trip to the cellar: Find a driver who won’t participate in the wine tasting. We love the home version of the wine tasting – we select several bottles and open them to be decanted and tasted. But, of course, you know the problem – it is the same as with the chocolates – ones opened we have to eat/ drink them all, just to be sure they won’t turn sour. Of course, you can always choose an organized tour and try Bulgarian wines.
Other quality Bulgarian wineries you should visit
There are also other Bulgarian wineries we will consider if someone asks us for recommendations. But, of course, it depends on the store and the budget (We are pretty sure we have missed at least one of our favorites…):
Burgozone – a boutique family winery
Todoroff – the first boutique winery in Bulgaria
Minkov Brothers – heritage and traditions
Edoardo Miroglio – an Italian winemaker in Bulgaria
Villa Melnik – in the wine center of Bulgaria
If you live in the USA and want to try some Bulgarian wines, choose yours here.
We believe every winery has good wines to offer. Sadly, we can’t always consult our buys with the wine masters, so we have other selection methods. Sometimes it is: Just buy it!
Which one is your favorite Bulgarian wine? Share with us so we could go and check it. Definitely, we will continue the story about the local wines.
Inspired? Pin it for later!
WOW! What an incredible list of wines. Some new ones to me that now I would love to try. Thank you for sharing.
Happy to hear it! Thank you, Jenniffer!
I love the sound of the raspberry wines. I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Bulgarian wine so would be very curious to do so.
Oh, me too 🙂 Raspberry wine is one of my favorites. Thank you, Talya!
I tasted/ drank “Korten” red wine for the first time in 1990,during work for a previous employer in Salisbury. Blown away! Memories of such a very fine red ( my personal opinion) remain to this day.
I would love to visit Bulgaria someday, looks amazing. I don’t drink alcohol, but I always appreciate wineries, because I love grapes! Fields of grapevines make me vary happy.
Actually, like you, Matt, I don’t drink much. But I appreciate, experiment, and collect wine (lately Bulgarian wines). You are welcome to Bulgaria to explore the Bulgarian wineries with us 🙂
Oh, wow. I honestly had no idea that Bulgaria had so many amazing wines!
Yes, we are not so famous for our wines, but we have some real gems! Thank you, Brianne!
All of these wines sound divine. I will be bookmarking this to try some of these the next time I go shopping! Thank you so much for these recommendations.
Thank you very much, Zoe! I hope you will like them!
My daughter and I have enjoyed some time at wineries. It is an educational experience but also just really fun.
Absolutely agree with you, Elise. The whole process of winemaking is very interesting to me too!
Those wines look promising. I never knew Bulgaria to be a wine producer so this is interesting to know.
I am happy to share some new information! 🙂 Thanks, Ivan!
These wines sounds great. I’ll be glad if I could visit these places someday.
You will like them for sure, Nicz!
I don’t no much about wine and i think i can countnon my fingers the number of times i had a wine haha but i woudn’t mind visiting a winery.. It seems like a fascinating place to visit knowing how most of these wines are done and processed meticulously. Thank you so much for sharing these
Oh, yes, Milton, but for example, if you visit Bulgaria, Starosel offers a great SPA as well. Maybe you can combine a winery tour with a pool day 🙂
Good tip on finding a drive who won’t partake in the wine tasting!! I wouldn’t have thought to do so… and it’d be a question I wouldn’t have thought to ask!
Hah, yes, Rosey, it is always very important – “Don’t drink and drive!” 🙂
I’m a big lover of trying new things but not so much keen on the wine. That being said, I’m up for trying anything once.
Yes, I understand you, Nyxie. But maybe you would like Bulgarian wines if you give them a chance.
It is interesting to learn about these kinds of wines. These sound wonderful and it would be neat to see the wineries in person.
Yes, Marysa, it will be a unique experience for sure!
Great recommendation, I’m not a big fan of wine and alcohol but that seems nice to give couple of times when going there. Thank you for sharing!
Fransic – https://www.querianson.com/
Maybe you haven’t tried the right wine 🙂 Bulgarian wines could taste better.
Honestly, I don’t know of any Bulgarian wine. I’d love to know some wines from there and possibly, recommend them! Thanks for sharing your compilation.
Bulgarian wines are wonderful, and I am sure you can find the right wine for you. I hope you will like them, Ntensibe.
Would love to be able to try out such wine tasting and hopefully I can visit this place in the future too. So many wines to try out!
You are welcome to Bulgaria to taste Bulgarian wines with us, Anosa!