Time for wine and something more

The second edition of the Wine and Farmhouse Delicacies Festival will bring together producers and connoisseurs at the end of August in Pleven. One of the main attractions of the wine celebration will be a stand with ice creams produced using Italian technology with various wines from grape varieties created at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology – Pleven. The event will take place in the park of the Regional History Museum from 29 August to 1 September.

Pleven will host the second expanded edition of the forum for wine and farmhouse delicacies from 29 August to 1 September 2024. This year’s expanded edition of the festival is held under the name "Time for Wine…".

The Rubin variety was created in the mid-1940s at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology – Pleven, by crossing Syrah and Nebbiolo. Rubin is a medium to early ripening variety with a very short vegetation period, vigorous growth and good yield. It is widespread in the Thracian Lowland, mainly around Plovdiv and Ivaylovgrad. Of critical importance for this variety is determining the exact time of harvest, since not only the vegetation period but also the period of technological ripeness is very short.

Historically, for quite a long period of time, the Rubin variety was used mainly for the production of dessert wines or was most often used for blending with other varieties. Unfortunately, after the introduction of a wide range of introduced varieties, there was some withdrawal from the production of Rubin, but over the last 15 years it has managed to become one of the main red wine varieties of most wineries in Southern Bulgaria.

The festival will open on 29 August at 10:00 a.m. at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology with an Open Day dedicated to the red wine grape variety "Rubin". For the first time, the Institute is experimenting with its own wines in the preparation of a variety of ice creams. The technology for the wine delight is that of Italian ice creams under the brand Gelato Magnifico – Lovech, and the wines are from varieties of IVE – Plevenska Rossa and Rubin, as well as Vratsa Muscat and Gamza. An interesting fact is that the ice creams do not contain milk, but have an alcohol content of about 4%.

The annual exhibition, at which traditional and new dessert grape varieties will be presented, is being organized for the first time jointly with the Agricultural University in Plovdiv, the Institute of Agriculture and Seed Science "Obraztsov Chiflik" – Ruse, and the Institute of Agriculture – Kyustendil.

On 31 August, Assoc. Prof. Eng. Tatiana Yoncheva, PhD, from IVE will reveal the secrets of wine tasting in a short training session for anyone interested in the manner of wine consumption.

During the festival, connoisseurs of quality wines and delicacies will also be able to visit the stands of producers from Northern Bulgaria, located in the museum courtyard. They will be open to visitors from 12:00 to 22:00.

On 1 September at 18:00 is the closing of the festival, when a raffle for visitors will be held and certificates will be awarded to the participants.

The event is organized by Pleven Municipality and is part of the 2024 Tourism Development Programme.

FREE ADMISSION!

See the programme HERE

Cover photo: Institute of Viticulture and Enology – Pleven