site.btaSeven Generations Winery in Ruse Region Wins Nine Medals at International Wine Competition in Vienna

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 Seven Generations winery in the Ruse region has won four gold, one silver, and four bronze medals at an international wine competition in Vienna. The secret ingredient for good wine is full dedication, said the winery’s chief technologist Boyka Stoeva. “One must live with what they do, give their all, and burn with passion in their work,” she said.

The winery is located about 30 km from Ruse, near the village of Mechka. It was founded in 2010 by the late Lyuben Rabchev, a resourceful Bulgarian who returned from the US after living and working there for 40 years. A fifth-generation winemaker, Rabchev established a boutique winery that also offers wine tourism, a hotel complex overlooking the Danube, restaurants and a spa centre, wine tastings, and walks through the vineyards and along the riverbank.

“Good wine must have a good balance. What we sense with the nose in the aroma, we must then find in the taste and the aftertaste. Balance is needed from start to finish,” said Stoeva, a graduate of the University of Food Technology in Plovdiv with a degree in wine and spirits, who has worked in wine-making since 1991. She joined Seven Generations in 2012, initially as a consultant, and has been chief technologist since 2021.

According to her, the new grape harvest looks very good so far. “The grapes have ripened with high sugar content, good acidity, and excellent indicators, so expectations are for very good wines,” she said.

The winery has about 20 hectares of vineyards, growing Muscat Ottonel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. “The grapes we produce are entirely sufficient for our needs. We make one type of white wine, three types of rose, and premium red wines,” Stoeva said. Two years ago, an additional 1.5 hectares of Muscat Ottonel were planted to increase white wine production.

The winery participates in competitions almost every year, mainly abroad in Austria, Belgium, UK, and Germany. “At the end of last month, results were announced from the international wine competition in Vienna. Of the nine wines we submitted, we received four gold medals, one silver, and four bronze. Gold medals went to Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Cuvee 2020, Cuvee 2019, and Cabernet Franc 2020. The silver medal was for Rose Classic, and bronze medals were awarded to Muscat Ottonel, Rose Light, Rose Blush, and Merlot 2020,” Stoeva explained.

The winery also organizes wine tours, usually for groups of six to eight people. “When we host corporate team buildings, we arrange a tour to familiarize participants with the production process,” she added.

Stoeva said the winery is a small producer. “On an annual basis, we produce under 100,000 litres of white, red, and rose wines. The last two summers were quite dry, grape yields were low, and as a result we produced significantly smaller quantities,” she noted.