Development, Status and Perspectives of Vine-growing and Wine-making in Bulgaria

Abstract

Grapes and wine production on the Balkan Peninsula dated back to the ancient times due to the favorable natural conditions for vine-growing. Despite its small territory, with its geographic location Bulgaria has an extremely varied relief and climate. On the basis of the diverse terroir the country was divided into 5 wine-growing regions where along with the common, globally known vine varieties, some local ones, characteristic and typical of each region, are also grown. Over the past two decades, the development of the wine sector in the country and the legislation had been in line with the requirements and arrangements with the European Union. From 2002 to 2010 there was a significant decline in the cultivated area of vineyards and the wine export. Full control has been introduced on the planting of wine grape varieties. During the years following the accession of Bulgaria to the EU, there has been a gradual expansion of the cultivated areas with wine and table grape varieties, although the process of setting up new plantations is extremely slow. The preservation and expansion of the vineyards of traditional Bulgarian varieties has been encouraged. Wine varieties dominate in the structure of vineyards and occupy 95% of the vineyards and the table grapes – about 5%. The red wine varieties are predominant, as they are about 58% of the area of ​​the vineyards and white wine varieties are 42%. During the last decade, the interest in bio and organic produce has grown strongly and the areas for organic grape production are constantly growing. Over the past 100 years, viticulture and wine-making development in Bulgaria had marked times of rise and times of severe crises however it had always preserved its place as a subsector determining the structure of Bulgarian agriculture, being of great importance for the country’s economy.