Month of wine holidays starts in Bulgaria

According to old traditions, in February vineyards in Bulgaria are pruned and are prepared for the spring that is to come. St Trifon is said to be the protector of vine growers.

He was a true martyr for the Christian faith and was executed in 250 in Nicaea. The feast of St. Trifon is on February 14th according to the Julian calendar and on February 1 according to the Gregorian one. Vine growers usually keep to the old calendar as on February 1 the weather is still usually too cold.

This year, however, festivities have started earlier. The feast is accompanied with lots of wine of course and it is regarded as one of the last winter holidays. In 2012 harvest in Bulgaria was of very good quality, despite the severe winter. Now vine growers wish for better weather. In the past year this country produced some 130 million liters of wine which was an increase of 20% in comparison to 2011. The positive trend of growing exports also continues. In 2009 crisis made Bulgarian wine export decrease nearly by half but in 2010 a 10% increase was marked. In 2012 the rise was 7%.

In the past years Russia has been returning its former image of a big importer of Bulgarian wine. It is followed by Poland, Germany, Romania, and the Czech Republic. The US market for Bulgarian wine has also been growing, while breakthroughs at some Asian markets are also expected.

Adapted from Bulgarian National Radio