History
It all started with two Czech entrepreneurs and wine enthusiasts, captivated by its ancient culture and history in Bulgarian and Thracian lands. Petr and Vladja landed in Bulgaria in 2011, establishing an IT company. However, upon their arrival, they began seeking ways to open their own winery, creating wine they enjoyed and could share – wine whose origin they knew well.
The year is 2014. With naivety and little experience, the two optimists still managed to buy agricultural land in Southern Sakar. Two years later, they planted eleven hectares with vineyards, and the land transformed into a vineyard. However, the initial attempt failed, and in 2017 and 2018, almost all the vines had to be replanted. The wine adventure turns into a series of small, seemingly harmless steps, leading to a moment where there is no turning back – realizing that winemaking is not a joke but a serious craft, even an art. An art that cannot be realized without dedicated individuals.
In 2017, the company hired its first employee – agronomist Aneliya Pavlova. Ani was naive and inexperienced enough to accept the proposal for the vineyard’s restoration, yet she also possessed enough determination to accomplish this mission. Over the next five years, she laid the foundations in the production stages of the company. From just having completed her agronomy education, she evolved over time into a well-known and respected professional. For her achievements, Ani holds a particularly honorable place in the history of ROSALEA. She left the company in 2021, but left behind a beautiful and vibrant piece of land, accompanied by a group of people who maintain its liveliness daily. The leader of the group is Rumen Kirilov – a current agronomist, but also a loyal employee and a friend of the winery since its inception.
In 2020, the first quantities of grapes suitable for wine production were available. Enologist Ekaterina Gargova joins the team. This is how the famous first rosé of ROSALEA was born. The 2021 harvest allowed Katya to enrich and expand the winery’s wine portfolio. The iconic ‘Writer’s Wine’ series emerges – varietal wines aged in high-quality barrels. The ‘Writer’s Wine’ line is not something new, as the idea itself had been present in the owners’ minds years earlier. Petr’s wife, Zuzana, is a writer and at the same time – a passionate wine lover. The combination of these two passions forms the heart of the story behind ‘Writer’s Wine’. Because every wine tells a story. And ours continues…
A history of vision
This leads to the idea of an image embodying the Greco-Roman festival of roses and anemones – Rosalia, which here is also the narrator’s character. By linking ancient rituals with the universal and eternally inspiring symbol of womanhood, of the creator and thinker, our Persona is a provocative image, raising many and diverse questions.
Drawn by Denitsa Toneva, art director at the studio TWO DOGS TWO CATS and a creator by heart and vocation, the visual concept is a mix between Antiquity, Romanticism, and Modernity. The references of the word to the terminology of Jung and the eponymous film by Ingmar Bergman are also interesting. Actually, the word “persona” originates from the Latin verb “personare” and in antiquity it served as the name for a theatrical mask.
The font used for ROSALEA is Ambiant Sans – a contemporary and clean typeface that complements the image and delicately emphasizes it. It is the responsibility of Laura Csocsán An independent graphic designer and typographer who often creates personalized solutions for projects in the fields of music, art, culture, and fashion.
The connection between wine and art, collecting and storytelling, contemplation and perceiving reality through the prism of the creator – these are the ways of living upon which we have built our vision. For our Persona, inspiration is the essence of things. Inspiration to seek the creator within you, sipping ROSALEA sip by sip, day after day.
The team
What path does a small, fragile, and timid girl take, initially fascinated by classical ballet, to become a confident and established professional, not in the field of dance, but on the Bulgarian wine scene? Undoubtedly long and challenging, but equally exciting! Such is the path of Ekaterina Gargova, the head enologist at ROSALEA. Born and raised in Plovdiv, with parents from Northern and Southern Bulgaria. Exploring the world through wine, and wine through her travels around the world. Since 1995, Katya has been gathering, exchanging, and passing on valuable practices in a number of Bulgarian wineries, as well as those located far beyond our borders – in California, New Zealand, North Macedonia… Her fate determines her to become an outstanding figure and one of the prominent women in Bulgarian winemaking. She was awarded the Enologist of the Year prize for 2010 by the Union of Enologists in Bulgaria. Inspired by the power of wine to overcome time and space, connecting people, Katya founds her own brand under the name Wine Bridges. Within it, she experiments and creates limited series of wines from local grape varieties.
In the nearby 2020, she decides to leave a vivid part of herself in a special place – her father’s native town of Harmanli. During the stressful year of May, in the same year, the spring-growing vines of ROSALEA managed to breathe hope for health and life into her, to become her oasis where she found balance. From their fruits, she has to create the first harvest of wine. Katya is the person responsible for the path the grapes take, ensuring they arrive in the bottle on time and with confidence. She is an unceasingly searching and exploring creator, leaving her mark and energy in every subsequent harvest. Interacting with young learners energizes her, and wine, for her, is like a child – demanding constant care.
The work of an enologist is dynamic, emotional, and artistic, sometimes physically demanding too. Katya often jokes that one can stay fit without going to the gym. Fun fact: five years ago, she became the proud owner of a small Pomeranian named Zara, who, thanks to her owner’s profession, has become a dog-taster. Yes, we are completely serious. And what does our Ekaterina dream of? More travels, more leisure time with family, a peaceful world with kind and smiling people, but also for Bulgarian wine to step onto the global wine stage. Her love for dancing never left her from childhood. With a laugh, she says we’ll see her dancing at least until her knees hold up. Dancing requires finesse, strength, and passion. Making wine seems to be the same, and she’s undoubtedly good at both stages!
SuperMan, or more briefly, SuperRumen, or simply Rumen Kirilov as per his birth certificate. The man of all trades! He started at ROSALEA as a tractor driver, and to this day, he’s an agronomist, without whose technical knowledge, we might not be where we are. True to the principle that ‘everything is human-made.’ Highly regarded in the Sakar region not only for his long-standing experience in viticulture and winemaking but also for his positive attitude toward every challenge and life in general.
But let’s add a little backstory. Born and raised in Harmanli, spending every summer in the countryside. The love for agriculture couldn’t be coincidental… In ROSALEA, from its very inception, they’ve been part of it, tending to the “little vineyards” since infancy. They adore working with the tractor and various other equipment. No, it’s not just a liking for that tractor. It’s their hobby! (A rare breed of people whose professions and hobbies align.)
To use the right machine with the right settings and at the right time is the most important thing, according to him. Every tractor driver, agronomist, and even the owner of land and agricultural machinery should know this. Nevertheless, manual work in the vineyard is no less important and responsible, and timeliness is, again, a key moment. Rarely will you hear someone speak with such love for the soil, the grapevines, the tractor… There must be chemistry between him and the land, between him and what it bears. But what is the other driving force (besides the earthly one) that motivates his early mornings? ‘The opportunity for development that ROSALEA gives you. Making your own decisions. Belief in yourself and your skills… Which, on the other hand, pushes you to give 100% of yourself, sometimes even more.’ In today’s all-consuming digital world, having someone on your team connected to the land to Rumen’s degree is invaluable. We thank him for the jokes, for the mood, for being SuperRumen, without whom we can’t do.
Maria is our youngest team member after ROSALEA itself. A child of the world, she was born and spent her first few years in Svilengrad, later moving to Gabrovo. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Business and Management at the University of Bradford in England, then returned to Bulgaria, settling in Sofia, where she enrolled in the “Wine and Beer Technology” program in Plovdiv. Despite the constant traveling to Harmanli to keep her love for our winery alive, the sky seems to be the limit for Maria. It’s no coincidence that she dreams of a house in the mountains with a glass ceiling, as a daily reminder of her aspirations.
In her work, she mostly likes dynamics (expected, given her temperament), constant contact with people, good wine… Tastings have been her hobby for years, and what could be nicer than turning your hobby into a profession? And since we’ve stated how inseparable Maria and “dynamics” are, did you know about her appearances as a campaign tech assistant with us? We love this youthful color and energy so much that we can’t help but hope that her presence becomes a tradition!
We talk about youth, energy and colors, and their embodiment is undoubtedly the ROSALEA MEETS YOUTH project. Maria debuted in his first edition, or as she herself described it – “was the experienced bunny”. But how high it soared! ROSALEA MEETS THE YOUTH is one of our most successful ideas to date, and she, diligently following the advice of our chief oenologist, mixed a wonderful fresh ruby, of which nothing remained.
A few years ago, the singer Milenita wrote the lyrics for “I drink for Maria”. Since we met her, we calmly sing “I drink with Maria“ , and no, the mistake in spelling is not an error. To this day, we would describe her as a ginger vegetarian with experience in animal rescue. She loves the mountains and just… to be high, high, high… She also loves spicy food. She always drinks an odd number of sips of water. One day she shared with us that her mission in life is to find what she’s looking for. Here – we were looking for her. And we found her. Mission completed.
Sakar not only brings juicy grapes every year but also brought us a beautiful dark-haired lady named Natalia. Natalia is our office manager and your host when you decide to visit us in person. She’s the person diligently organizing your online orders, or in other words, fulfilling “a million and one wine wishes”. Born in Harmanli and remaining loyal to it – that’s precisely the kind of person we needed!
Her role in ROSALEA is to be our documentary guru, but in life, she’s the mother of a beautiful little boy whose speed within and outside of our winery definitely surpasses his height and age by far. Natalia loves being a mother and excels in this calling! They say she lives up to her name… Actually, did you know that the name Natalia means “birth”? No? We strive for our website to have a touch of education too.
The youthfulness of our winery and the way its development unfolds are among the things she truly enjoys. But what’s the most pleasant of all? The unlimited amount of wine. (Indeed, we couldn’t agree more.) While we talk, we pour a small (of course) tasting glass of the same. At the moment, Natalia is pursuing a master’s degree in “Food Safety” at the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv. She believes that working with us will enrich her knowledge of wine culture, and we believe that her valuable expertise will make the control of processes in our winery even more stringent.
What else does she love? Riding a bicycle. What doesn’t she like? Breadwinners. We’ve reassured her that she won’t have any close encounters with the latter here, and we’ll arrange the bike. World peace is on our girl’s list of dreams to fulfill, and not far behind sneaks in a camper, equipped well enough to travel the world. Take us with you, Natalia! We promise to bring the wine!
Peter emerged into the world in Western Czechia during the past millennium, specifically in the beer capital of Pilsen, seemingly without any inclination towards vineyards and wine. But the ways of the adventurer are inscrutable – he thinks of one thing, yet life presents another. With substantial experience in developing businesses in the IT sector and the energy industry, twenty years ago, along with his friend Vladia, they found themselves in sunny Spain. This is where their joint wine journey began. They started importing Spanish wine to Czechia, and a decade later, their business migrated from Spain to Bulgaria. The rest is history – the one you’ve read a little earlier.
We would describe Peter as a visionary, perfectionist, and as he himself claims to be, an “educated introvert.” Apart from wine, he loves photography and horology, the so-called “old-world craftsmanship” – all methods of time travel. His creative spirit draws inspiration from figures like George Daniels – in watchmaking, Josef Sudek – in photography, and Sean Thackery – in winemaking.
Behind the scenes
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