[caption id="attachment_860" align="alignright" width="183" caption="Me drinking and now unknow Bulgarian red"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-860" title="cae-wine" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/cae-wine.jpg?w=183" alt="Me drinking and now unknow Bulgarian red" width="183" height="300" />[/caption]

Today I was out and about running some errands.  At some point, I was struck by the thought that today would be the perfect day to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. The sun is out with only a few clouds in the sky, it's not too hot and the city seems to be turning green. If that doesn't warrant a glass of wine, I don't know what does.

The thing is when I got home after my errands instead of having a glass of wine I started reading up on Bulgarian grape varietals, growing regions and wineries.  In fact I've just spent the last two-plus hours reading about wine.  Obsessive? Maybe.  Interesting? Oh, yes.

Am I wine expert? No way. Do I have  any wine credentials?  Well, I'd consider myself a wine amateur. I know what I like (dry-dry whites and spicy-full bodied reds) and what I don't like (sweet whites, sweet roses and reds that are better chilled). I've been wine tasting in Walla Walla, WA, the New York state Finger Lakes region and at the Virgina wine festival a half a dozen times but still my knowledge is pretty limited.

This said, over the past few months I've had a number of decent Bulgarian wines and I've noticed a number of other wines that I want to try.  So rather than drinking wine, I've been researching it.  (I think that might be a clear indicator that I am an academic at heart.)<!--more-->

Here's some of what I learned Bulgaria makes wine from all of the "Big Eight" wine varieties for the reds these include: cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot and syrah/shiraz and for the whites these include: chardonnay, riesling, sauvignon blanc, and pinot gris/pinot grigio.

Bulgaria also has a number of indigenous varietals.  Some traditional Bulgarian white grape varietals are misket, dimiat, tamyanka and rkatsiteli (which apparently came originally from Georgia).  And Bulgarian reds include mavrud, melnik, gamza, pamid and rubin.  Based on these two lists, I've got some exploring do.  I think that of the indigenous varietals I've only had three or four.  Yes, I've had a greater number of different Bulgarian salads than I have wine.

One of the other things that stood out to me is that Bulgaria has five distinct wine regions.  I knew that the geography of the country included a number of different mountain ranges but for some reason, I was still surprised to learn that Bulgaria had five regions.  These regions are the Danube River Plains, the Black Sea Coastal Region, the Valley of the Roses, the Thracian Valley and the Struma River Valley.  It looks like most regions grow both red and white grapes but that depending on the growing season, the geography and the soil each area prefers either white or red grapes (that's pretty straightforward).

I know that I have more Bulgarian readers now than I ever have had before.  I wonder: do you have a favorite grape varietal? A go-to bottle of wine? A favorite winery? Any other insight to help a new-comer to the field of Bulgarian wine?

And for those of you State side, my research uncovered a Bulgarian wine distributor.  <a href="http://www.bulgarianwine.com/index.html" target="_blank">The site</a> seems pretty legit but they don't have a very big selection. Sorry. I guess you'll just have to plan a visit to Sofia if you're looking for the best access to Bulgarian wine.