site.btaChateau Kolarovo Among Few in Bulgaria Producing Petit Verdot Wine

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.

Chateau Kolarovo is among the few in Bulgaria producing pure wine from the Petit Verdot grape, not typically grown in the country. Although the winery is located in the heart of the Merlot-growing region, over the years pure wine from the French variety has become Kolarovo’s trademark, the owner and technologist Iliana Koeva said. 

She noted that in Bordeaux, Petit Verdot makes up between 5 and 10% of blends. “In Bordeaux they say Petit Verdot is the little spice needed for the blend, like black pepper added to food to make it sparkle. That’s why we at Kolarovo are proud that the grapes for our most popular wine come from our own vineyard,” Iliana Koeva said.

The winery was established in 2009, after being converted from a dairy. In 2021, when Koeva became the owner, the winery was given the name Kolarovo.

She recalled that in the early 1970s Austrian agronomist Prof. Moser identified the vineyard near Kolarovo as unique. Taking into account the terroir, he advised investing in Merlot plantations. By the 1980s, 700 hectares were planted with vines from French stock, Koeva said. “This Merlot vineyard is now over 50 years old and remains emblematic. Merlot should come from Kolarovo, it’s a quality mark in itself,” she added.

The vineyards around Kolarovo are managed mainly by two local cooperatives. Despite the high quality of Merlot, Koeva believes the strength of small boutique wineries such as hers lies in the diversity they bring to the market. “Modern Bulgarian viticulture started in 2000 with the launch of the SAPARD programme. Until then, everything around Kolarovo was Merlot and Cabernet, with some Pamid and Mavrud. These varieties are still popular, but people want new and different wines. At exhibitions we’re always asked what new we have. That’s why we planted our own vineyards not only with Petit Verdot but also with Malbec,” Koeva said.

Her winery is part of the Wines of Sakar association, which also includes her husband Kamen Koev, technologist and co-owner of another Harmanli winery, Villa Bassarea.

Originally from Targovishte, Koeva met her husband while studying wine technology at the University of Food Technology in Plovdiv. Both later gained experience at the large wineries in Lyaskovets and Targovishte. “In large-scale production, there are experienced colleagues, and it’s hard to make mistakes because someone will always guide you. That’s why I advise beginners to first work in bigger wineries, to get used to the workload and dynamics, and to learn from senior experts before being tempted to experiment on their own,” she said.

In 2006, the couple decided to leave large-scale wine-making and begin experimenting independently. Kamen was the first to arrive as technologist at a winery in the Harmanli region, while Iliana won a project and left for California, where she worked for a year at a winery in Sonoma. After returning, the family settled permanently in Harmanli. “We could have gone anywhere in the world. We were young and eager to experiment, with every door open to us. But the southern slopes of Sakar won us over with their uniqueness. The region is ideal for wine-making, climate, soil diversity, everything gives character to the wine. We came for a short time, but we’ve been here nearly 20 years now. Our daughter grew up at wine exhibitions and around wine-related topics,” Koeva said.

Asked which wine they open at home in the evenings, hers or her husband’s Koeva said: “We always drink other people’s wine. In our house, wine is like a religion. By tasting colleagues’ wines, we both enjoy what they have achieved and understand where we stand with our own.”

As rival technologists, the couple have split their production focus over time, Bassarea specializes in white wines, while Kolarovo makes reds. One of Kolarovo’s most popular series is Metamorphosis, with all labels featuring a ram, the winery’s logo. The ram is a symbol of one of the incarnations of Dionysus, the god of wine. According to a pagan theory, every person carries something of the god of wine, Koeva explained. She also shared a curious detail about choosing the ram as the winery’s emblem: when the land was ploughed deeply before the vineyards were planted, a silver ring with the image of a ram was found. The artefact was donated to the Harmanli Museum.

Another pride of the winery is the Sweet Wine Rose, a dessert wine aged nine years in barrels, produced from Merlot grown in local vineyards. Koeva noted that dessert wine is rarely made in Bulgaria because there is little local tradition of drinking it, unlike in Hungary or Spain.