If pressed to tell the truth, German economic attache to Bulgaria Bernd Ganter would admit that by heart, he is more of a beer drinker and he shuns wine at lunches and receptions because beer “keeps your head clearer” and more prepared for social contact. He does, of course, drink Bulgarian and German wines at dinners - he prefers red wine and the Mavrud grape - but he would stop after the first glass and enjoy a glass of good old beer. That is not to say that he is unaware of the old piece of German advice: “Wine after beer, nothing to fear/ beer after wine, that’s not so fine,” but that he insists it is not entirely true - “it refers to people who would abuse the quantity, not the order of drinking,” Ganter says.
Ganter has been in Bulgaria for 11 months and says that the country has offered him “some big advantages” like culture, nature, and dry air. Dry air is something he missed in Panama, where he was an ambassador before coming to Bulgaria, so he is happy to experience the Bulgarian climate, which is very similar to the climate in Schwarzwald where he comes from. Good wine is another thing Panama didn’t have, so when going there, he had to bring along some 300-400 bottles of German wine. He says he didn’t need to do that when coming to Bulgaria because he finds local wines good, and he seldom holds receptions with German brands as he did in Panama. His general impression is that Bulgarian wines are “good, fruity, and have heaviness and background.”
He says he is not a connoisseur, but he can make out good from bad wine. Although beer tops alcohol sales in Germany, German people are sophisticated about wine, he says. You can tell this from the array of wine production books on the market, giving advice on how to buy, produce, taste it, etcetera, he says. This, coupled with the 2000-year history of Roman-inherited wine production technique, probably explains the origin of the German saying: “Beer saves you from other people’s wine,” that is, other people’s bad wine.
Ganter says the mass production of German wine after World War 2 ruined the quality of many brands and Germany became known as a producer of very cheap labels worldwide. “People would think that because they remember Liebfraumilch (which literally translates as lady’s milk) and would say: ‘Oh, that lady’s wine.’”
He says the good German wines, like the Riesling and Muller Turgau, have been there for decades, but a lot of effort will be needed to bring them back to their high standard.
Ganter says his motto since coming to Bulgaria has been: “Let’s enjoy Bulgarian things,” so he has tried everything Bulgarian, even beer. “Eighty to 90 per cent of the beer both in Germany and Bulgaria has a high standard so there’s nothing wrong with drinking any of it.” He would rate the quality of Bulgarian wines at eight out of 10. He says that he doesn’t have a preferred wine brand (and that if he did, as a diplomat he wouldn’t reveal it), but he would very often pick the ones which sound English or Italian. “Wine is a science,” he says. “You can endlessly discuss wine”. And although he doesn’t know much about that science, he wouldn’t mind starting to learn.
