site.btaLittle Star Winery: Bulgarian Wine Tradition Preserved Through Local Grapes, Oak Barrels

At one of the emblematic wineries near the village of Kolarovo, Harmanli Municipality – Little Star, the team takes pride in working exclusively with local grape varieties, while their wines age only in Bulgarian oak barrels crafted by Bulgarian coopers.

“We work with barrels made from oak in Malko Tarnovo. The idea is that we produce Bulgarian wine, from grapes grown in our vineyards, and it matures in barrels made by Bulgarian masters. From start to finish, our wines embody the phrase ‘Made in Bulgaria’,” owner and winemaker Svilen Georgiev told BTA.

The winery’s name comes from “The Star”, an ancient crossroads associated with wine trade. Little Star was founded in 2005 by Dr. Stefan Angelov and partners.

Just steps away from the winery lies one of its own vineyards - around 5 hectares planted with Syrah, Merlot, and Chardonnay. Due to late frost in April followed by hailstorms in the region, 2025’s harvest from that vineyard will not be collected, explained Svilen’s wife, Gergana.

The couple share responsibilities in the winery: Svilen, who gained international experience as part of the Stone Bridge Wines team in Clare Valley, Austria, oversees the vineyards, yields, and winemaking technology. Gergana handles administration, sales, and guest hospitality in the tasting room.

Another part of the winery’s vineyards stretches across 140 hectares in Lyubimets. About 90 percent of those grapes are sold, as production has been scaled back significantly in recent years to around 20,000-25,000 bottles per vintage. “The idea was to free up more time to spend with visitors, to be among the people who come to taste our wines,” Gergana Georgieva said. According to her, wine tourism in Bulgaria is developing, albeit slowly. “Most people still come with the idea that wine should be ‘masculine’ — heavy. We focus instead on lighter, more drinkable, fruit-forward wines,” she explained.

The winery works with both popular international varieties and less familiar ones in Bulgaria, such as Colombard, Carménère, Marselan, and Malbec, which are attracting growing interest, alongside native varieties like Melnik 55 and Melnik Rubin.

Little Star specializes in producing limited series of premium wines. Its main line is Enigma, while its most acclaimed labels are Experience and Essence.

Inside the cellar, wines mature in barrels for periods ranging from eight months to six years. “One of the barrels has been resting here since October 2015,” said Georgiev. He explained that he had also experimented with acacia and walnut barrels: “Acacia works for certain grape varieties, but walnut is very risky – if the wine isn’t taken out on time, it can pick up iodine-like flavours.”

A distinctive feature of the cellar is its natural well, which helps maintain optimal humidity.

This year, the winemaker is experimenting with open-vessel fermentation, a technique that, he says, allows for “a smoother, gentler extraction.”

Little Star is a member of Wines of Sakar, the local winegrowers’ association in Harmanli. “Even though we compete, we help each other a lot within the organization. Making wine is not a long-distance race. Wine is love and self-expression. In every winery, you can find what we call the winemaker’s signature,” Gergana Georgieva added.