Time for red wine, shared with family and friends

26 October – we celebrate the International Mavrud Day with three urban wine festivals, a conference and plenty of quality wine.

For the third consecutive year we shall celebrate the feast of wines from local grape varieties. Dedicated to Bulgarian wine and named after one of the most valuable and ancient Bulgarian varieties, the International Mavrud Day is an initiative aimed at creating an occasion for serious interest in Bulgarian viticulture and winemaking, highlighting the remarkable harmony between millennia-old traditions, innovative technologies, quality and stylistic diversity of the wines produced in Bulgaria. The aspiration is for the feast to establish itself as a truly significant event in the wine presentation of the country, which will provide information and guide different groups of consumers towards Bulgarian wine.

Nearly 100 years ago, on Dimitrovden, when most winemakers take the wine out of the pomace, the master of Stanimaška Malaga, Aristi Chorbadzhakov – Chorbadzhaka, would begin the grape harvest. His precision in caring for the vineyards and mastery in winemaking remain to this day an example of quality and professional attitude towards the craft. That is why precisely Dimitrovden, 26 October, was chosen to be the feast of Bulgarian wine and the International Mavrud Day. In the folk calendar, Dimitrovden also marks the beginning of the winter and colder months. A time for red wine, shared with family and friends.

The initiative of the Bulgarian Association of Wine Professionals – International Mavrud Day – originated in 2020, when it was marked “pre-premiere” and virtually on social networks, with the appeal “let us open a bottle of Bulgarian wine”. In 2021, although the year was also not among the most favourable, Mavrud Day was celebrated in over 19 countries, and the events which more than 70 wineries, restaurants, wine bars, traders and importers of Bulgarian wines abroad organised for wine enthusiasts exceeded 100 in just one month.

This October three urban wine festivals will be held on three consecutive Saturdays in the largest cities of Bulgaria. A selection of over 35 Bulgarian wines from local varieties will tour the country, and their culinary accompaniments will be regional and different in each city. Admission to all three festivals is free, with only the consumption being paid.

The festival season on the occasion of the International Mavrud Day was opened by Urban wine fest Varna, which took place on 15 October in the art space “ReBonkers” in Varna. The next wine point was Plovdiv, where under the sounds of the Wind Orchestra, the Plovdiv saxophonist Dimitar Angelov and selected music by DJ Manev, Urban wine fest Plovdiv was held on 22 October.

Urban wine fest Sofia, conceived as the only urban wine festival in 2021, remains this year the last in the series – last in order, but not in importance. It will be the memorable finale of a wine-filled October. The bar moves to the Largo in Sofia on 29 October. The Sofia Wind Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra will take care of the cultural and musical programme, and the organisers also promise further surprises.

On 26 October a conference with international participation, aimed at professionals in the sector, will be held in Sofia. The lecturers and participants will share experience and will discuss pressing issues for Bulgarian winemaking related to zoning, marketing and the positioning of Bulgaria as a wine destination.

The cause of BAWP is the promotion of Bulgarian wine and wine tourism so that they may take their deserved place on the world wine scene through recognisability, expressive identity and a positive image.

The International Mavrud Day is an initiative of the Bulgarian Association of Wine Professionals and this year will be held under the patronage of the Minister of Tourism and with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Fund “Agriculture”, Sofia Municipality and Plovdiv Municipality.