site.btaVratsa Wine Project Ponte Dio Offers White Wines and Roses from Danube Terroir

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.

The wine project Ponte Dio from Vratsa offers white and rose wines with the finest qualities of the excellent Danube terroir. The winery produces up to 10,000 bottles annually from its own vineyards near Mizia and the Montana village of Slavotin.

“The most important prerequisite for good wine is the vineyard. Our plots are in Northwestern Bulgaria, home to the pride of the region, the Vratsa Misket variety. Near Mizia we also grow Riesling, Chardonnay, and Traminer. Only white varieties, because Northern Bulgaria is better suited to them,” said the owner Mladen Tsolov.

He and his wife Zhana Tsolova have been cultivating vines for more than ten years and now manage about 35 hectares. Favourable conditions near Mizia, humus-rich soil, southern slopes, and suitable air currents, allow the vineyards to thrive and yield good harvests from their third year. This led to the creation of the wine project, which began as a dream for an impressive wine.

“Ponte Dio was born from the vision to create something exceptional. I wanted to meet my own need for quality wine, not only for myself, but also for friends and wine lovers. If it worked and people liked it, we would sell it. Many people aim to make good wine, but I wanted something more, and achieved it,” Tsolov explained.

The name connects to his native region. “We wanted to open a door, a passage from the present to the past, to history and legend. That is why we named the brand Ponte Dio, which translates as God’s Bridge, a natural phenomenon near Vratsa,” he said. According to him, legends also surround the Vratsa Misket variety, also known as Vrachanska Temenuga. This ancient white grape variety is believed by some to have been cultivated by the Thracian tribe of Triballi, who inhabited the area in the 6th-7th century BC, when Vratsa was their capital. Vratsa Misket is highly aromatic, with notes of wild violets, lemon, and cardamom, which are expressed in the wines.

“In production we follow demand. We could make 300,000 bottles, but we don’t want that. We make wine for the pleasure of creating something exceptional that connoisseurs can appreciate, not to conquer the market. On the way to the final product we are assisted by oenologist Nadya Mineva of the Tipchenitsa winery, who is an outstanding professional,” said Tsolov.

Currently, the main production is Vratsa Misket, the most popular wine in the region. The second is rose, made in smaller quantities from Rubin, Merlot, and Cabernet. The rose has an unusual origin: “Near Mizia, besides white varieties, we had a few hectares of Cabernet and Merlot, so we tried making rose. We harvested everything, but one of the varieties was not fully ripe, which raised the acidity. To balance the taste, we added overripe Rubin grapes, and the result was excellent. Now we do it that way every year. I personally like it a lot, it has slightly sweet, spicy notes of forest fruits,” the winemaker explained.

Ponte Dio’s newest product is Rubin Barrel, introduced two years ago and not yet featured on the website. “It ages for two years in oak barrels and is very well received. We produce only about 500 bottles per year in this limited series. It is an excellent wine, so we made sure it comes in beautifully designed bottles, sealed with wax,” Tsolov added.