Bulgaria - Day 2 (Plovdiv)

Before getting on the bus at 8:00 am, I went down to get the breakfast at the hotel. Many vegetables with 7-8 kinds of olives. Despite the variety, there are only two kinds of cheese, yellow and white. Since cheese is a major ingredient in Bulgarian cuisine, I was expecting a bunch of different types of cheeses. The white cheese is like feta and the yellow cheese is like a very mild cheddar cheese. Less salty than cheddar, though.

Also, there weren't that many yogurts. The picture below is plain yogurt with fig jam. Compared to Greek yogurt (I'm not sure if so-called-Greek-yogurt is consumed in Greece or not, though), it contains more water and is not as smooth. I also see the strained version, which resembles Greek yogurt. Bulgarian yogurt is slightly tangier than Greek yogurt.

After breakfast, I left from the central bus station for Plovdiv, which is just 2 hours away. It was pretty foggy so that I couldn't see much from the window. But it seems there wasn't much to see, anyway.

I reserved a wine tasting tour from Bulgaria Wine Tour. There are several wine regions in Bulgaria but this tour takes me to the Thracian Lowland, which is Southern Bulgaria. This tour company is owned by the tour guide and his wife. Our guide has studied in the US and Sweden so he has a certain Western hospitality. Very nice and sincere person.

Wine making once was a major state-run industry in Bulgaria but it declined as Communism collapsed in the late 80s. Because of communism, the wine was mostly mass produced basic quality wine. However in recent years, wine production has re-emerged with better quality.

The first stop is Villa Yustina. The owner of the winery also owns a stainless steel tank business. Therefore, many of their wines are aged in stainless steel tanks (whether partially or entirely).

The sommelier of the winery showed us around. The winery offers monthly wine pairing events with different type of food options.

I tasted 5 kinds of wines. The tasting was accompanied by white/yellow cheeses and salami. The most unique grape varietal in Bulgaria is Mavrud, which is tannic and spicy. This grape is originated from Bulgaria. The grape is pretty dark (Mavro in Greek means "black") thus the wine is pretty dark in color. I tasted an interesting Mavrud / Rubin blend.

The second stop is Todoroff Wine Cellar. Also, the winery owns a restaurant and we decided to have a lunch before wine tasting. The menu is pre-fix with 4 options for each course.

Snezhanka (Similar to Tzatziki but it's much thicker)

Ruska salata - Potato Salad

Grilled trout - very clean taste

Pork dish

It's called Chocolate souffle but it was molten lava cake actually. 

A sort of bread pudding

After the lunch, the winery gave me a tour followed by tastings of 5 wines, including Mavrud, along with a Muscat / Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz Rose, and two Cabernert Sauvignon variants.

Very nice looking tasting room

After visiting two wineries, the guide gave a short walking city tour of Plovidiv. In Sofia yesterday, I saw quite a few ruins in the city. But Plovidiv is even more unique. They keep discovering more ruins after the commercial facilities are built. This ruin is found in the basement of a shopping mall.

This amphitheater is located right next to a school. It's very funny to find something like this in the middle of the city.

I was lucky to be in the city of Plovidiv in the week of the Bulgarian version of Beaujolais Nouveau. More than 40 wineries in the region brought their new wines and displayed them in booths at various locations, such as private homes and churches. It seems that it's ok to drink in public in Bulgaria. Also, I found many liquor stores are open 24 hours everyday. The guide told me the legal drinking age is 18 years but even that is not very strict in Bulgaria. The guide got me tokens (8 tastings). That was more than enough after visiting 2 wineries.

The wine event was not a part of the tour. So, now we are at the last stop, a wine bar operated by the Bendida winery. Since it's a very small bar, we sat outside. It was pretty chilly but felt very cozy with a blanket. Another selection of 5 wines accompanied by snacks were served here. Again, a wine from the Mavrud grape was served.

All the wines were much better than what I expected. Many wines are a little more tannic and pretty bold for European wines.

Also, I did enjoy the city of Plovdiv a lot more than Sofia because the people are more laid back. Still, the people are not super friendly but they seemed to smile a bit more. I'm glad to know that not all Bulgarians are grumpy.