About us

Manastira Winery – Wine with Character

We are the Manastira Winery. We produce high quality red and white wines along the banks of the Topolnitsa river, at 330 m above sea level, where Thrace meets the hills of Sredna Gora. The specific terroir, the vineyards cultivated with love and the thousand-year-old winemaking traditions of the region, are the foundations for the distinctive character of our wines.

We offer you three wine series

Ilaya – the legend says that it was Mavrud’s mother’s name

Our priority variety is the local Mavrud; we make the Ilaya series from it – rich, full-bodied red wine and rosé. After gaining experience with it, we know that our next step will be to create vineyards with other typically Bulgarian local varieties, grown for centuries in the region.

Middle Forest – from the vineyards on the slopes of Sredna Gora

Middle Forest presents mid-range wines with rich naturale, aged in oak barrels (without rosé) – Chardonnay Barrel, Syrah and Middle Forest rosé.

Riverside – from the vineyards along the banks of the river

Riverside are low to mid-range wines, affordable and with flavour appealing to a wider range of consumers. It includes Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon, Mavrud & Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Why you should choose our wines:

We have implemented full quality control with persistence and consistency – from growing the grapes to bottling. We have about 30 ha of quality vineyards we created ourselves and which are looked after by a trained team. We produce our wine only from them in an entirely closed production cycle.

We offer you limited series that reflect the characteristic features of the harvest in the respective year and the specificity of the vinification and aging process, which makes them truly unique.

We have carefully chosen our location to guarantee the most suitable conditions for the production of quality grapes from classic and local varieties. From them we make young wines and those with good aging potential.

Our history

We created the vineyard in 2006 when we planted the first 15 ha of vines. In 2011, we completed the installation of the equipment of the cellar and bottled our first harvest – only from our own grapes. Then we planted another 15 ha of vines. Among the selected varieties, we paid particular attention to the local mavrud, typical of the region (Lesichovo, Pazardzhik province).
The name of the family winery comes from an old legend about a monastery that was built in this place.
Although Manastira Winery has been on the market for a short time, we already have a good collection of Bulgarian and international awards and recognitions for our work from competitions such as Decanter, Concours Mondial Bruxelles, BIWC.

Technology

We start hand-picking the grapes in September with the varieties of Muscat Ottonel, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah. The grapes-picking ends around mid-October with the harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon and the late-ripening Mavrud. Further, we manually remove injured and defective grapes.

The fermentation takes place in stainless steel vessels and we provide different temperature conditions for different wines. Then we transfer those with aging potential to age in oak barrels (French, American and Bulgarian oak) in a room with controlled microclimate. We bottle the wine on a modern automated line.

At every stage we monitor the processes in our own laboratory for analysis.

Our mission

We have made it our mission to bring local varieties back to the market and we are planning to plant new vineyards.

We are committed to create the best wines for the region of Thrace with each of our harvests, to be recognised at the domestic and foreign markets as they reveal to the consumer the qualities of the terroir and give them amazing experiences.

Our vision

Our vision for the Manastira Winery is how it becomes a favourite brand of white and red wines you enjoy having at your table on holidays and weekdays and during moments of solitude. We have been working to make it your favourite wine tourism destination.

Tasting and wine tourism

We organise tasting tours and create conditions for the development of wine tourism in a region with interesting traditions and history. After visiting us, you will know more about grapes, about the wine and its making process, and how to drink it. And you will soon want to come back again. Your guide will be our enologist.

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