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Regional wines – the new face of Bulgaria!

>>>Day 1 - Sofia

>>>Arrival at Sofia Airport
>>>Transfer Airport – Hotel
>>>Dinner and overnight at hotel in Sofia


>>>Day 2 - Sofia -Koprivshtitsa – Sofia, 220 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for Koprivshtitsa
>>>Sightseeing of Koprivshtitsa
>>>The picturesque town of Koprivstatsa is laid out in the centre of Bulgaria in the heard of Sredna Gora mountain. During the Bulgarian renaissance Koprivshtitsa was literary and spiritual centre. That was the time of spiritual awakening when the Bulgarian people began their struggle for religious, cultural and political independence. Koprivshtitsa is native town of many leaders and revolutionaries for the freedom of Bulgaria. Since 1956 Koprivshtitsa is town-museum.

>>>Lunch at local restaurant
>>>Departure for Sofia
>>>Sightseeing of Sofia
>>>Dinner and presentation on “Matching Modern Bulgarian Cuisine with >>>Wine” by Ognyan Tsvetanov, Ph.D.
>>>Overnight at hotel in Sofia








>>>Day 3 - Sofia - Rila Monastery – Melnik - “DAMIANITZA” winery – Melnik, 300 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure and visit Rila Monastery (UNESCO's List of Cultural Heritage).






>>>Lunch at local restaurant
>>>Departure for Melnik


>>>MELNIK - one of the most ancient villages in Bulgaria: Amazing stone pyramids, unique landscape, fantastic night colors, secret Moon nights, rustling legends about love dramas and bloody battles, wild spring dawn, almond-trees and lilacs in blossom, thick and sweet wine, magnificent architecture and ruins from numerous remarkable monuments dated from the Middle Ages and the National Revival, rich centuries-long history. This is what antique handsome Melnik attracts its thousands tourists.

>>>Visit of “DAMIANITZA” winery with wine tasting
>>>Damianitza (established in 1940) is located in Southwest Bulgaria - one of the best wine regions in the country - the Struma river valley. This is the sunniest and the hottest Bulgarian viticultural region with hilly terrain and soils of volcanic origin, which are most suitable for grape growing.
>>>Damianitza JSCo produces wines from the indigenous local variety Shiroka Melnishka Loza (Broad Leaved Vine of Melnik), known also as Melnik, as well as wines from the varieties Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, >>>Cabernet franc etc.

>>>Dinner at local restaurant
>>>Overnight at hotel in Melnik






>>>Day 4 - Melnik – “Besa Valley” winery, Ognyanovo - “TODOROFF” wine-cellar, Brestovitsa - Plovdiv, 210 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for “Besa Valley” winery, Ognyanovo - wine tasting
>>>“Besa Valley” winery is named to the ancient Thracian tribe – “Besi”. It is supposed that in this country was made the famous Thracian wine. The building of the winery resembles medieval French estate. May be that is because one of the owners is Baron Stefan von Nieppberg. This winery produces Bordeaux style wines based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.





>>>Departure for “TODOROFF” wine-cellar, Brestovitsa.
>>>“TODOROFF” wine-cellar concentrates its efforts in production and offering of high quality red wines in boutique series. The cellar is situated in one of the symbolic for the Bulgarian wine production villages - Brestovitsa, in the heart of Thracian Region. This region is well known with its exclusively favorable climate and soils for red wine production.







>>>Lunch at “TODOROFF” wine-cellar with wine tasting
>>>Departure for Plovdiv
>>>Plovdiv is a very old city. The Eternal City, as Rome is conventionally called, is much younger. Athens, Carthage and Constantinople came into being later. A contemporary of Troy and having survived Mycenae, Plovdiv is a city upon layers of cities and an epoch upon layers of epochs. Plovdiv is all in one: a Thracian and classical Greek polis, the pride of Philip II of Macedonia (the father of Alexander the Great), the capital of Thrace under the Roman Empire, a centre of Byzantinism, a stronghold of the Bulgarians, a dream of the crusaders. Kendros, Eumolpia, Philippopolis, Pulpudeva, Thrimonzium, Pulden, Populdin, Ploudin, Filibe - those were the ancient names of Plovdiv throughout its 6000 to 8000 years of existence.

>>>Check in hotel at Plovdiv
>>>Dinner
>>>Overnight in Plovdiv






>>>Day 5 - Plovdiv – Bachkovo monastery - Plovdiv, 60 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for Bachkovo monastery, sightseeing
>>>The second largest Bulgarian monastery, the Bachkovo monastery, lies in the valley of the Chepelare river (also known by the locals as Chaya), about 10km to the south of the town of Assenovgrad. On all sides, the monastery is surrounded by the hills of the Rhodopi Mountain, which together with its size and ancient spirit make is one of the most visited monasteries in Bulgaria.





>>>Lunch at local restaurant
>>>Departure for Plovdiv
>>>Sightseeing of the old town of Plovdiv
>>>Dinner at the old town and presentation on “Regional wines – the new face of Bulgaria” by Ognyan Tsvetanov, Ph.D
>>>Overnight at hotel in Plovdiv







>>>Day 6 - Plovdiv – Starosel – Shipka – “Vinex Slavyantsi” winery - Zheravna, 300 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for the village of Starosel, sightseeing of the ancient Thracian temples


>>>In August 2000, a sensational discovery occurred near the village of Starosel, in central Bulgaria. Archaeologists found the enormous temple/grave of what is believed to be a Thracian ruler, possibly Sitakes I, the first king of a combined Thracian empire. He invaded Macedonia with a supposedly 150,000 strong army and died in battle in 424 BC. The site has been dated as from the fourth or fifth century BC. The grave and its surroundings are thought by archaeologists to have been an important religious site for Thracians dating from the Stone Age.

>>>Departure for the village of Shipka
>>>Lunch at local restaurant
>>>Sightseeing of the newly found Thracian temples near Shipka
>>>Departure for “Vinex Slavyantsi” winery, wine tasting
>>>The VINEX SLAVYANTSI is a well-known Bulgarian wine company located in the famous Sungurlare valley which is the most Eastern part of Bulgarian sub-Balkan wine-growing and wine-producing region. The archaeological finds and monuments point to the fact that both wine-growing and wine-producing have been known there since ancient times; in modern times these are the basic economic activities. A most peculiar characteristic of the region is that wine-growing is predominantly meant for wine-producing. Wine massifs are compact and located on the slopes of the hilly country. The main white wine varieties include Red Misket, Muscat Otonnel, Chardonnay, Riesling and Ugni Blanc, while Cabernet, Merlot and Pamid produce the main sorts of red wines. White varieties are prevailing.








>>>Departure for Zheravna
>>>Zheravna is a little Bulgarian village with ancient Bulgarian architecture, situated in the central part of the Eastern Balkan mountain. Zheravna is architectural reserve. The village keeps many than 200 wooden houses. Some of them are over 300 years old.

>>>Check in hotel
>>>Dinner at local restaurant and presentation on “Bulgarian wine industry – overview” by Ognyan Tsvetanov, Ph.D
>>>Overnight at hotel in Zheravna






>>>Day 7 - Zheravna - Shumen – “Preslav” winery - “Liaskovetz” winery – Arbanassi, 290 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for Vinex Preslav JSCo. wine-cellar - wine tasting with lunch
>>>Vinex Preslav JSCo. wine-cellar produces wines with guaranteed and controlled name of origin such as Chardonnay, Traminer and Grape Brandy (Cognac) some of these brandies are more than 35 years old.

>>>Departure for the town of Shumen
>>>Sightseeing of the Madara Rider
>>>The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m- high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria's conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between A.D. 705 and 801.






>>>Departure for VINPROM “LYASKOVETS” LTD winery – wine tasting
>>>VINPROM “LYASKOVETS” LTD. winery produces mainly desert wines Porto style, red and white table wines.

>>>Departure for Arbanassi village.
>>>The old settlement of Arbanassi is situated on a high plateau with a view to the hills of Tzarevetz and Trapezitza, four kilometers from Veliko Turnovo. It's distinguished for its impressive houses and churches with rich interior decoration, wood-carving, and mural paintings created in XVI - XVII century. Namely these unique monuments from our architectural and arts heritage are the cause for Arbanassi to be frequently visited not only by tourists but also by scientists, archeologists, historians, architects, and artists. With a tsar decree from 1921 the settlement is declared resort, and in 2000 it is declared "historical settlement" with national significance.

>>>Check in hotel
>>>Sightseeing of Arbanassi
>>>Dinner
>>>Overnight at Arbanassi





>>>Day 8 - Arbanassi – Troyan monastery - Oreshak – Belogradchik, 375 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for town of Troyan monastery





>>>The Troyan monastery, “Assumption of Virgin Mary”, lies 10 km to the southeast of the old Balkan town of Troyan, in the skirts of the Balkan mountain range. Built at about 400 meters above sea level, the biggest monastery in the Balkan Mountains is surrounded by beautiful forests and the Cherni Osam River, which gives a particular charm to the place. The monastery’s complex is quite developed as a tourist site with plenty of shopping outlets, restaurants and entertainment facilities in the neighborhood.






>>>Sightseeing of the Troyan monastery and the Exposition of National >>>Crafts and Arts “Oreshak”
>>>The Exposition of National Crafts and Arts near the village of Oreshak is important place where Bulgarian craftsmen and artist can show their work. The exposition is created in 1971. The works of art and crafts are exhibited in 8 halls.





>>>Lunch at local restaurant
>>>Departure for the town of Belogradchik
>>>Check in hotel
>>>Dinner and presentation on “Presentaion of the wines of North-West >>>Bulgaria” by Ognyan Tsvetanov, Ph.D.
>>>Overnight in Belogradchik


>>>Day 9 - Belogradchik – “MAGURA JSC” winery – Sofia, 230 km

>>>Breakfast
>>>Departure for “MAGURA JSC” winery
>>>Magura Winery is located in the west part of Bulgaria, at a distance of 200 km from Sofia, near the Yugoslavia border. The nearest town to Magura Winery is the town of Belogradchik, known for its unique rocks.

>>>Magura Winery produces natural sparkling white and red wines using the natural conditions of the underground spaces of one of the sleeves of Magura Cave. The natural characteristics and climate are extraordinarily favorable and identical to those in the region of champagne in France.

>>>Lunch with wine tasting at the winery
>>>Departure for Sofia
>>>Check in hotel
>>>Dinner
>>>Overnight in Sofia


>>>Day 10 - Sofia

>>>Breakfast
>>>Transfer to the airport
>>>The group will be attended during the hole trip by Ognyan Tsvetanov, Ph.D.



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>>>Price per person – 785.00 EUR

>>>Price includes:

>>>Accommodation in 3 / 4 star hotels
>>>Transport by lux couch with AC
>>>3 lunches with wine tasting at wineries
>>>5 lunches at local restaurants
>>>9 dinners at local restaurants
>>>4 wine tasting at wineries
>>>Entry fees

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