site.btaRumelia Winery: Success Built on Mavrud, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon

BTA will present dozens of Bulgarian wineries in the “New BG WINE Leads the Way” series ahead of the 9th UN Global Conference on Wine Tourism, which will be hosted in Plovdiv. The forum is organized by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the UN World Tourism Organization.

Rumelia Winery, located in Panagyurishte, was established in 2006 by Rumen Kostov. Near the village of Smilets, in the Pazardzhik region, 56 hectares of vineyards have been planted with Mavrud, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery has a processing capacity of 500–600 tons of grapes per year.

This autumn, the harvest is of excellent quality, though yields of white varieties are lower due to frost damage in April. As a result, the winery plans to increase pink production to meet market demand. For the red varieties, yields are expected to match last year’s levels, said the winery’s manager, Tsveta Kostova, speaking to BTA.

“We work exclusively with our own grapes and only the varieties we’ve planted — Chardonnay and Muscat for whites, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Mavrud for reds. We’re not planning new varieties, but we are focusing on quality,” explained Kostova.

In recent years, Rumelia has made significant investments in modern technology, including a lab device that provides 12 key indicators in just a few minutes, and new barrels for aging not only red wines, but also white and pink. The winery currently has 480 French oak barrels of the 225-liter barrique type and aims to expand capacity to 1,000 barrels.

The minimum aging time is one year, which allows them to label wines as “Reserve”, indicating a higher quality category. The winery also practices zero-waste production — stems, skins, and seeds are repurposed as animal feed.

Rumelia Winery’s wines are offered in five series. The first, created back in 2006, is Merul – featuring lighter and fresher wines aged in stainless steel tanks, and Merul Reserve – varietal wines aged for at least 12 months in barrique barrels. The series is named after the Merul area, where the famous Panagyurishte Gold Treasure was discovered — a symbol of the city and of wine-related rituals. The label features a colorful spot representing the region, the nine vessels from the treasure, and three ellipses symbolizing the Deikov brothers, its discoverers. Fittingly, the winery is located in Deikov Brothers Street.

The third series, Erelia, is a blend of all four grape varieties grown by the winery and ranks among Bulgaria’s top wines. Its label shows a symbol of four interwoven rings – representing the unity of the varieties. The name comes from the old name of the village of Smilets, where the vineyards are located, once known as Erelia.

At the top of the range are the Rumelia and Rumelia Reserve series, named after the winery itself. The name ‘Rumelia’ was chosen for three reasons. First, Panagyurishte is located in the historic region of Eastern Rumelia. Second, the name is well-received internationally, and third, it is the same as the name of the founder Rumen Kostov.

Manager Tsveta Kostova added that Rumelia wines have already won international recognition, including a Grand Gold Medal for Merul Reserve Merlot 2018 at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in China and Mexico, which opened up new markets in Mexico and South Korea. In 2017, the Rumelia Mavrud Reserve won the Grand Trophy for the Best Wine in the Balkans.

Rumelia Winery actively develops wine tourism, with its own tasting room. This month, it will welcome two Czech groups, and in November, a visit from Brazil is expected. On weekends, the winery also hosts individual Bulgarian visitors and groups organized with local hotels. It often hosts business forums and team-building events. For larger groups, the team organizes presentations outside the tasting room as well.

In November, Rumelia will participate in DiVino.Taste, the largest wine exhibition in Bulgaria.