An elegant thin red stream of Mavrud from Plovdiv is poured into Ziggy’s glass as he prepares to sample it before telling the story of his journey with wine.
Ziggy is the husband of Vessi Stoeva, the proprietor of Vinobar, the well-placed wine bar around the corner from Sofia’s Central Military Club. He came to Bulgaria as a Swiss diplomat, and stayed on as a resident after meeting and marrying Vessi. The traditions of the country in which he grew up, and his experiences as a diplomat, have given him many opportunities to learn about wine.
Growing up in Switzerland, he says, he learnt to appreciate the country’s excellent white wines (“the reds are moderate to good, but not especially famous”) particularly in the context of the Swiss winter tradition of white wine with fondue.
Serving as a diplomat in Australia, he came to savour their wines. Australia has many advantages: long, glorious summers and mild winters (in European terms, viewed as autumn under another name), as well as the Australian wine industry’s historical and technological advantages. Developed by German immigrants, Australia has used modern technology from the outset to develop its wines, and with plenty of land available and proper use of irrigation systems, as well as fully mechanised production, is able to produce wines that are consistent from year to year.
Ziggy, who declines to define himself as a connoisseur or an expert on wine and says rather that wine is a hobby, has no orthodoxy about additives.
“I like a wine to be not too heavy, but flavourful and tasty to me. I don’t care too much about what’s in it, as long as what is in it is permitted.”
As when living in other countries , he has developed a loyalty to local wines. He adds that there are some areas in which there could be improvement in Bulgaria’s wine industry, such as realistic pricing for the domestic market, and to avoid selling it too cheaply on the international market - a practice that runs the risk of potential customers deciding that if Bulgarian wine is cheap, it must not be of high quality.
