Georgi Ganchev
Managing Partner
Bulgarian Wine Society

If you see Georgi Ganchev having a conversation over a glass of wine, you need not wonder whether it is a matter of business or pleasure. Where there is wine, the man is bound to find both. As head of the Bulgarian Wine Society, he stands comfortably amid wine’s path from producers to consumers, and he has something for both. Through the Together to Europe initiative, the society is helping wine producers access funds necessary to introduce know-how and equipment that can help local wine producers be on par with European standards. And the society’s weekly wine tastings, social events for Sofia’s highlife, are one of few regular wine culture events.

Bulgarian Wine Society. Since when?
It was founded in March last year, and our first public appearance, so to speak, was at Vinaria 2006. Our purpose is to introduce European standards to the wine-making sector on one hand, and on the other, to stimulate the domestic wine market and to help guide the consumer in choosing which wines to drink.

What wines should we drink?
Good ones.

And which are those?
Good wines are those made out of grapes, as old wine-makers say. Joking aside, this is why we started a rank list, one that I dare say is the only independent ranking on the market. Once a week, each participant presents seven wines from their label, and these are evaluated by a jury of professors from the University for Food Technologies in Plovdiv and by the sommelier of the year for 2006, Tanyo Shishkov. These people have no ties to any of the wineries, which means that their opinions are not swayed by such factors. They rank the wines based on the 100-point system adopted in the United States and the ranking is being published in a growing number of media, including, as you know, The Sofia Echo.

What wines do you drink?
Basically speaking, most wineries have some wine that is good, especially in their more expensive lines. But what impressed me most last year were the wines of Starosel.  The wines of Terra Tangra are also among my favourites. It is not coincidental that during the last wine tasting we held at the embassy of the United States, Terra Tangra sold the most wines.

What does it take for a wine to sell?
You mean other than it being good?  It is very important for wine that it be poured out. The more people can taste it, the better it is for the wine in the long run. The product has to reach the right people. The members of the Bulgarian Wine Society are the public figures of this country. These are people in international trade, people in the artistic world, people in politics. They are people who communicate with the intellectual, business and political elite. So when they know about how to taste and talk about wine, they become our best communicators, the best PR for Bulgarian wines. Every foreigner who sets foot in Bulgaria is curious about local alcohol and local food. And, we need to be able to say that the label is not misleading – that what’s inside the bottle is what the label says it is.

So what will it take for our wine producers to adopt the European standards you mention?
Well, wine producers will either do so by mid-year, or they will cease to exist. Do you know what happened with the world-famous Tokai wine in Hungary? The inspectors walked in and closed the winery. Now, they came up with the story of some French queen having brought the first vine, so now the wine is being sold under a French label, but that’s another story.
If winemakers don’t make the effort to meet EU standards, they will simply be forced to close down, and will not be able to sell either on the domestic or on the European market. That’s why the Bulgarian Wine Society, together with Moody International and Bulbank, joined in the Together to Europe initiative, which involved the giving of a Moody rating on the basis of which loans are granted to help winemakers fund the purchase of equipment and the adoption of EU standards. Still, I think the future of Bulgarian wine lies in the hands of small, boutique wineries with limited editions and the uniqueness of our varieties, which we must develop. I mean Mavrud, Shiroka Melnishka, Pamid. This inferiority complex that tells us that we don’t inspire interest on the Western wine market is simply wrong. They are open to trying new things and we know that even popular varietals, like Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, differ according to where they’re grown. Plus, we shouldn’t forget that Bulgaria brought wine-making know-how to some tigers on the contemporary market, such as Chile and South Africa. So there is no reason for us to lack self-confidence. Not to speak that we’re heirs of the Thracians, after all. So with this ancient history and with this unique wine, if we can’t break through on the international market...

Your business card says you’re a managing partner. Who’s the non-managing partner?
Tanyo Shishkov, sommelier of 2006. This is someone who invested, starting at age 14, in educating himself about wine. He has studied in Western Europe, the States, South America.

Do you do anything else?
Right now, no. Wine demands year-round tending.

And what else interests you?
Not entirely unrelated to wine are historical monuments and archaeology. I’ve specialised for years with Georgi Kitov and at this moment I’m looking for the point of intersection between Thracians, wine, gold... Well, it exists, actually, it just needs to be exposed in an appropriate way. Why could National Geographic come and do a story about the Thracian gold in their magazine or BBC can film Perperikon, and we can’t make a movie and release it internationally? I’m working on something like that and fortunately I am seeing some enthusiasm from winemakers.
Bulgaria has yet to show itself to the world. We’re still best-known for the problem with the nurses in Libya, the attempt to assassinate the Pope. It’s time to show your good side and to do so with self-confidence.