A TOTAL of 371 companies from 28 countries competed for the Golden Rhyton awards at this year's Vinaria wine exhibition in Plovdiv.
A total of 174 Bulgarian wines were the core of the twelfth consecutive exhibition that hosts vine growers and wine producers from all over the world.
Regular visitors of the forum always find it attractive to play the game of which is the best one, when they look back to the previous editions of Vinaria. In this sense, Vinaria 2004 was not the best or the most glamorous and even produced no big news. But it was definitely a reason for Bulgarian producers to draw a balance sheet of what their position in the global wine competition is and what their prospects for winning positions in the future are.
The last research placed Bulgaria twelfth in the volume share list of world wine exporters. Leaving aside the largest producers and exporters like Italy, France, Spain or even Australia, the country could hardly outrun even some new players on the market like Argentina and South Africa.
Latest figures from AC Nielsen research company show that South African wines had a great year in 2003 in the major markets of the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the US. The same trend applies for Argentinean wines that were also one of the attractions at Vinaria 2004.
Going back to Bulgarian wines, the most impressive performance at the exhibition in Plovdiv this year was offered by the Domain Menada company of Stara Zagora. In 2002, the cellar was privatised by the French vintner Belvedere, which also owns the cellars in the village of Oryahovitsa and the wine house Sakar in Lyubimets.
In Plovdiv, Domain Menada presented its newest wine Cherga, which is a mixture of Cabernet, Merlot and Rubin of vintage 2002. Other two wines - young Cabernet and Merlot 2003 from Stara Zagora and Lyubimets, as well as two new labels - Augusta Merlot 2001 and Trayana Cabernet 2001.
Damyanitsa demonstrated its new Rose of the No Man's Land label and Unicato Rubin 2003, and the company's executive director Filip Harmandjiev was "happy to see the appearance of many new market-oriented producers" at Vinaria.
The "biggest rival of all" Domaine Boyar also made a strong impression at Vinaria 2004. The leading Bulgarian wine producer and exporter won two of the Golden Rhyton awards, as well as eight golden and silver medals and honorary diplomas.
Vinaria 2004 saw the first public exhibit of the Noviko group, which has become the owner of the cellars in Haskovo, Stambolovo, Chirpan, Purvenets and Levski.
The best wines and rakia brands were presented with Golden Rhyton awards. Chardonnay of Domain Boyar - Sliven and Cabernet Sauvignon of Vincom - Bourgas won the awards in the young wine category. Two awards were handed also to white wines from previous vintages.
Two golden awards were presented to brandy and rakia. The 35-year-old wine brandy of Vinex Preslav became the top product in its category. The rakia from Peshtera was declared the best rakia. The company from Peshtera was awarded for the largest investment in the wine sector for 2003 with 14.5 million leva. Belvedere was declared the largest foreign investor in the Bulgarian wine sector.
So far, France has been represented at Vinaria only by vine growers. This year, French wine producers and experts also came to the exhibition and this was accepted by other participants as a good sign for the position of Bulgaria on the global stage.