Vinprom Karnobat recently welcomed a German business delegation, which visited our country at the invitation of Newspaper Group Bulgaria. The guests were impressed by the scale of the vine plantations, which is comparable to the best examples in the winemaking industry. But you do not need to come over all the way from Germany to notice that. Anyone travelling to the southern Black Sea shoreline would inevitably pass by your vineyards and see for themselves how 15 000 decares look in real-life...
Indeed, the vineyards lying close to the highway do look impressive but they only make up a third of all our plantations. A part of our success formula is that all of our massifs are located within the same geographic area. This sets us apart from the other winemakers, whose massifs are scattered in various points in the country. Despite being from different varieties, our grapes have the unique terroir characteristics of the Karnobat area. Our big advantage is that we don’t just market wines made from different varieties but rely on distinct identity as well. The strong individuality of the wines from the Chateau Karnobat series turned into a market leader. They were appraised extremely well by the connoisseurs as well. The young wine, Cabernet Sauvignon 07, from our proprietary vineyards, was awarded the most esteemed award at this year’s Vinaria - the Golden Rhyton. It is already out on the market. It would not be far-fetched for me to say that during the last year the Chateau Karnobat have been the most demanded white and red wines in their class. They combine a classic character with a modern vision and are also very well positioned price-wise, which makes the attractive to the most active part of the consumer segment.
More and more cellars rely on new grape varieties relatively unknown in Bulgaria, and on exotic wines in the spirit of the New World. Is this the winning strategy at present?
The wines in the New World style, as well as the experimentation with exotic varieties, are just a trend. I venture to say that the market is already saturated with such wines and the connoisseurs are increasingly returning to the solid, classic wines characteristic of Old Europe. The big advantage for the Bulgarian producers is that our country boasts multi-centennial traditions in vine-growing. We have unique local varieties worth relying on. It was not by chance that Vinprom Karnobat allocated a splendid massif of 3 000 decares where we planted Bulgarian varieties only. This year we got very good yields from the traditional Mavrud. We also harvested a good yield from Red Muscat and Pamid. We use them as inputs for the Karnobat Grape Brandy. That brandy, which is a favorite for millions of Bulgarians, is made according to a decades-long recipe used in the Karnobat area. The secret behind its rich taste is the unique blend of four Bulgarian grape varieties. During the spring of 2008 Vinprom Karnobat also launched an anniversary series of Karnobat brandies. Apart from its excellent taste, the series is also noted for its new, more deluxe design of both the bottle and the label. We also complemented our product range with the Karnobat Special Selection, which is distinct for its very high quality and exclusive taste and flavor characteristics. The competent combination of tradition and contemporary technology not only turned Karnobat Grape Brandy into a market leader within the country, but has also triggered the interest of our overseas partners. It is no secret that this has been the most demanded Bulgarian brandy overseas during 2007 and 2008.
