Following the wine route in Southern Bulgaria

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Melnik is the smallest city in Bulgaria and its region is popular mostly for the Earth pyramids, Rozhen monastery and the site of Rupite – a sacred area, where Vanga – a famous Bulgarian prophet built a church near the inactive volcano Kojuh and the hot mineral springs. However, there’s another thing that deserves your attention – the fact that this marvelous south area is full of wineries that produce some of the most famous Bulgarian wines! Only in this region is grown the unique grape variety Broadleaf Melnik ( Shiroka Melnishka loza). If you decide to spend a weekend in this lovely area, you shouldn’t skip the wine tourism for sure! There are lots of good local wineries where you can do wine tasting and trust me when I say that the experience is as good as in the French provence for example!

If you wish you can spend whole day in wine tasting in different wineries, because they are close to each other. We managed to visit only one, but we actually had no plans and the idea of the trip was just to go with the flow and chill. In the end we spent the entire afternoon in the winery. Its name is Orbelus and all of its wines are produced from organic grape. It was a pleasure spending some time there – we did a tour around the winery, they told us more about the production of the wine and then we enjoyed some of their best wines. The incredible view from the degustation room is a bonus! I liked the most the red wines, especially the ones aged in French barriques. In the end we had the chance to walk around the vineyards and harvest some grape – it was so delicious! The building of the winery is also very attractive – it’s like a huge wine barrel!

Here are some other good wineries that you could visit as well:

Villa Melnik
Zlaten Rozhen
Damianitza winery
Sintica winery

The museum of wine in Melnik also offers wine tasting. There, you can get a map of the wine routes in the region, which is very helpful because it has contacts of all the wineries.

Where to stay?

If you want to enjoy a traditional Bulgarian experience I highly recommend Lumparov’s house in Melnik. It’s an old authentic Bulgarian house, well equipped with all the modern facilities you’ll need, even WiFi. There’s a balcony with magnificent view over the town. In the morning you can have your coffee there enjoying the sunshine and the panorama. The best of the entire experience is the food that the owners will cook especially for you. You should definitely try mekitsi for breakfast! They are the best. Try them with homemade jam and cheese! The cheese is local and it’s fabulous! Another great thing about the house is its own cave cellar – it extends 20m into the rock and is a true landmark! There you can also taste some of the best local wines!