The Industrial Soul & the Egg Hand
Rossidi Winery is a family-owned boutique estate in the Eastern Thracian Valley of Bulgaria, near the village of Nikolaevo and the city of Sliven. Founded in 2008 by Rosie and Eddie Kourian — the name itself a fusion of their two names — the winery began as a hobby, producing just 5,000 bottles from vines planted by Eddie's father-in-law in 2005. Today, Rossidi farms 40 hectares of estate vineyard, using roughly one-third for their own label and selling the rest to other wineries, with annual production exceeding 70,000 bottles. The winery itself is tucked into a modest industrial building in Sliven's Southern Industrial Zone — next to a concrete plant, far from the romantic chateaux of Bordeaux — but inside, winemaker Peter Georgiev crafts wines of remarkable artistry: Bulgaria's first and only egg-fermented Chardonnay, a Gewürztraminer that changed how Bulgaria labels the variety, a Rubin that reached #3 in DiVino Magazine's national rankings, and an orange wine bottled in terracotta. Eddie, a graphic designer by training, designs every label himself — each wine a unique visual statement. Rosie, a holistic health coach and City University London graduate, brings a wellness philosophy to the family business. Their credo is simple: "Wine needs to reflect the terroir it comes from, as well as the main features of the variety it is made of; it should not be a commercial product deliberately shaped by high-tech equipment to match the current fashionable tastes." This is not merely a winery; it is a proof that the most soulful Bulgarian wine can come from a concrete warehouse, fermented in an egg, and sealed with nothing but honesty.
A Hobby, a Father-in-Law & the Graphic Hand
The story of Rossidi begins with a father-in-law and a dream. In 2005, Eddie Kourian's father-in-law planted the first vines on family land near the village of Nikolaevo, in the Eastern Thracian Valley — one of Europe's oldest wine regions, where the ancient Thracians cultivated grapes over 4,000 years ago. The Kourian family had no intention of building a commercial winery. The plan was simple: make a little wine for family and friends, enjoy the process, and see what happened. In 2008, Eddie and Rosie Kourian produced their first vintage — just 5,000 bottles — under a name they created by combining their own: Rosie + Eddie = Rossidi. The following year, they made 6,000 bottles. It was still a hobby, but a hobby with momentum.
By 2011, the hobby had become a calling. Eddie turned to his friend and fellow winemaker Peter Georgiev — a graduate of the University of Food Technology in Plovdiv who had just returned from stints at Arndorfer and Steininger in Austria's Kamptal and Allan Scott in Marlborough, New Zealand — and convinced him to join the project. Peter brought with him a rigorous technical education and a global perspective, but more importantly, he shared Eddie's vision: to make wines that expressed terroir and variety, not wines that imitated international fashion. The two men agreed that Bulgarian wine had spent too long trying to be Bordeaux or Napa — and that the future lay in authenticity, not imitation.
The winery's location is as unconventional as its philosophy. Rather than building a romantic chateau in the vineyard, Rossidi chose a modest industrial building in Sliven's Southern Industrial Zone — next to a concrete plant, surrounded by the decaying ruins of Soviet-era factories. Eddie is unapologetic about this choice: "You can see it's no big fancy winery. We had a project plan in 2009 to build a winery in the vineyard. We decided we just want to make wine. This didn't cost $4 million. When it gets tight and crowded in here, we can enlarge and go to the back room." The industrial setting is not a compromise; it is a statement — a rejection of wine-world pretension in favour of substance over style, of craft over architecture. The vineyard is ten kilometres away, the winery is in a warehouse, and the wines are among the most sought-after in Bulgaria.
"Wine needs to reflect the terroir it comes from, as well as the main features of the variety it is made of; it should not be a commercial product deliberately shaped by high-tech equipment to match the current fashionable tastes."
— Rossidi Winery Philosophy
The Eastern Thracian Valley & the Ancient Hand
The Eastern Thracian Valley — also known as the Thracian Lowland — is one of the most historic wine regions in Europe. Stretching across south-central Bulgaria, it was the heartland of the ancient Thracians, who cultivated vines here millennia before the Romans arrived. The region around Nikolaevo and Sliven enjoys a warm continental climate with hot summers, mild winters, and a long growing season that allows grapes to ripen fully while retaining acidity. The soils are alluvial and loamy, rich in minerals and well-drained — ideal for both red and white varieties. The vineyard sits at a moderate elevation, protected by the Balkan Mountains to the north and open to the south, creating a microclimate that is both generous and balanced.
Rossidi's 40 hectares are planted with a diverse portfolio of varieties that reflects both the family's experimental spirit and their respect for Bulgarian tradition. The reds include Mavrud — Bulgaria's most emblematic indigenous grape — Rubin (a 1944 Bulgarian cross of Syrah and Nebbiolo), Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. The whites include Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, and other international varieties. The vineyard was planted in 2005 by Eddie's father-in-law, meaning the vines are now approaching two decades of age — old enough to produce fruit of real concentration and character, yet young enough to retain vigour and freshness. The estate uses roughly one-third of its grapes for the Rossidi label, selling the remaining two-thirds to other Bulgarian wineries — a model that provides both income and quality control, ensuring that only the best fruit makes it into Rossidi bottles.
The region is not without its challenges. The warm climate means that yields must be carefully managed to prevent over-ripeness and excessive sugar. Eddie notes that if yields are lowered too aggressively, the grapes can become "sticky" and over-mature by mid-August, resulting in wines that are high in alcohol but low in acidity. Rossidi's approach is to balance yield and freshness, harvesting at optimal ripeness to produce wines that are typically around 13% alcohol with 6.5% acidity — refreshingly moderate by Bulgarian standards. The nearby city of Sliven is one of Bulgaria's oldest settlements, with a history stretching back to the Roman era, and the region is dotted with Thracian archaeological sites, medieval monasteries, and natural springs. For the Kourians, this is not merely scenery but context — a reminder that they are making wine on the same land where Thracian kings once drank from golden cups, and where wine has been part of the culture for over four thousand years.
The Thracian Valley is one of Europe's oldest wine regions, with evidence of viticulture dating back over 4,000 years to the ancient Thracians who inhabited these lands before the Romans. The Eastern Thracian Valley around Sliven and Nikolaevo enjoys a warm continental climate with hot summers, mild winters, and alluvial, loamy soils rich in minerals. The region is protected by the Balkan Mountains to the north and open to the south, creating a microclimate that is both generous and balanced. For Rossidi, this ancient terroir is not merely a backdrop but a foundation — a reminder that Bulgarian wine has a history deeper than most European regions, and that the best way to honour that history is to make wines that speak with an authentic Bulgarian voice rather than imitating Bordeaux or Napa.
Rossidi farms 40 hectares of estate vineyard planted in 2005 by Eddie's father-in-law, now approaching two decades of age. The vineyard is planted with a diverse mix of varieties: Mavrud, Rubin, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer. But the estate's most important decision is not what they plant but what they use: only one-third of the grapes are reserved for the Rossidi label, with the remaining two-thirds sold to other wineries. This model is not merely financial; it is a quality-control mechanism. By selling the majority of their fruit, the Kourians ensure that only the best grapes — the most balanced, the most expressive, the most terroir-transparent — make it into Rossidi bottles. It is a discipline of restraint that few estate wineries practise, and it is the reason that every Rossidi wine carries a guarantee of selection.
Rossidi's winery is located in Sliven's Southern Industrial Zone, next to a concrete plant and surrounded by the decaying ruins of Soviet-era factories. There is no chateau, no tasting room with a view, no manicured gardens. Eddie Kourian is explicit about this choice: "We had a project plan in 2009 to build a winery in the vineyard. We decided we just want to make wine. This didn't cost $4 million." The industrial setting is a deliberate rejection of wine-world pretension — a statement that what matters is not the building but the bottle, not the architecture but the artistry. Visitors who arrive expecting a romantic estate find instead a working warehouse packed with tanks, barrels, and a few tables. But inside that warehouse, Peter Georgiev crafts wines that have been ranked among the top three in all of Bulgaria. The industrial zone is not a limitation; it is a liberation from the expectation that great wine must come from great real estate.
In a country where powerful, oaky, high-alcohol wines have long been the norm, Rossidi pursues a different ideal: balance, freshness, and drinkability. Eddie explains that if yields are lowered too aggressively to push concentration, the grapes become over-ripe and sticky by mid-August, resulting in flabby, hot wines. Rossidi's approach is to maintain moderate yields that preserve acidity and freshness, producing wines that are typically around 13% alcohol with 6.5% acidity — light-bodied, crisp, and savoury rather than ponderous and sweet. This is particularly important for the indigenous varieties: Mavrud and Rubin are often made as heavy, brutish wines that demand a steak to tame them, but Rossidi's versions are refreshing, floral, and elegant — wines that can be enjoyed without food, and that invite a second glass rather than requiring a nap. The 13% ethos is not a marketing slogan; it is a technical philosophy that shapes every decision in the vineyard and the cellar.
The Concrete Egg, Native Yeast & the Patient Hand
Peter Georgiev's winemaking at Rossidi is defined by three principles: native yeast, minimal new oak, and relentless experimentation. All fermentations are spontaneous — Peter uses no cultured yeast, allowing the natural microflora of the Nikolaevo vineyard to drive the fermentation and imprint the wine with a sense of place. For the Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir, the grapes are fermented in specially made small 300-litre stainless steel casks, where the wine sits on the lees for six months — developing texture, complexity, and a subtle reductive character that Eddie describes as essential to the wine's evolution. "We make it so the wine will develop in the bottle, rather than trying to make it ready to drink," he explains. "That reductiveness will go away. It gives way for the freshness of the wine."
The concrete egg is Rossidi's most famous innovation — and still the only one in Bulgaria. Eddie stumbled upon the concept while researching alternatives to oak for their Chardonnay. He read about Michel Chapoutier, the legendary Northern Rhône producer who began experimenting with egg-shaped concrete vessels in 2001. The principle is elegant: during alcoholic fermentation, the CO₂ bubbles rise to the surface, creating a constant natural batonnage that circulates the wine and enriches it while reducing oxygen exposure. "I don't have to batonnage by hand," Eddie says. "The vessel should stay closed while the wine is circulating. This is how the egg helps the wine develop character and richness." The Rossidi Chardonnay is fermented entirely in the concrete egg — no oak, no chips, no staves — producing a wine that is rich, textured, and pure, with the character of the grape and the terroir unmasked by wood. When Eddie first labelled it "egg-fermented," Bulgarian consumers asked if he had put eggs in the wine. Today, everyone in Bulgaria knows which Chardonnay comes from the egg.
For the reds, Rossidi uses only 300-litre and 500-litre French oak barrels, and only 10–15% are new. Eddie is adamant that oak should be a support, not a mask: "We use oak as a base to support the wine — never to overwhelm it. Excessive oak will conceal the aromas. I want delicacy of the flavours." This is particularly important for the indigenous varieties. Rubin — a Bulgarian cross of Syrah and Nebbiolo — is prone to high volatile acidity and can easily become heavy and port-like. Peter and Eddie's approach is to preserve the floral nose from the Nebbiolo parent and the musky, meaty, leathery character from the Syrah, while maintaining bright acidity and silky tannins. The result is a Rubin that is "not too bold, not too heavy" — a wine that ranked #3 in all of Bulgaria in DiVino Magazine's 2013 rankings and remains one of the country's most sought-after bottles. The Mavrud is similarly refined: 100% pure single-varietal, spontaneous fermentation, refreshing and elegant rather than brutish and tannic. Peter insists that Mavrud "doesn't need a couple of steaks to tame it" — at least not when it is made with the Rossidi touch. The orange wine is bottled in a clay or terracotta bottle — a visual and tactile statement of its earth-bound, skin-contact philosophy. This is winemaking as art, science, and the relentless pursuit of what Bulgarian varieties can become when freed from convention.
Native Yeast, the Egg & the Art of the Label
The guiding principle of Rossidi is that wine should be a reflection of terroir and variety, not a commercial product shaped by high-tech equipment to match fashionable tastes. The native yeast fermentations capture the microbial fingerprint of the Nikolaevo vineyard. The concrete egg creates a natural batonnage that enriches the Chardonnay without oak. The 10–15% new oak policy ensures that the reds express their fruit rather than their wood. And the hand-drawn labels — each one unique, designed by Eddie himself — communicate something essential about the wine inside: the Gewürztraminer label incorporates the female body in the drawing of the vine because of the wine's feminine characteristics, using pink for rose petals and gold for honey and grainy reductive qualities. The Pinot Noir labels share the same drawing, with pinkish-yellow flowers for the rosé and darker red for the red. The Chardonnay label features an abstract grapevine in an egg. Every bottle is a work of art, inside and out — a testament to a family that believes wine should engage the eye as well as the palate.
Rubin, Gewürztraminer & the Egg Hand
The Rossidi portfolio is a declaration of independence from Bulgarian wine convention — a collection of wines that refuse to be heavy, oaky, or imitative. Each wine is made in small quantities, with meticulous attention to detail, and each carries a unique hand-designed label that Eddie Kourian creates to express the wine's character. The style is terroir-driven, acid-focused, and refreshingly moderate in alcohol — wines that showcase the Eastern Thracian Valley's ability to produce grapes with ripeness, freshness, and aromatic complexity. The Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir are fermented in small stainless steel casks with native yeast. The Chardonnay is Bulgaria's only egg-fermented expression. The Rubin is one of the country's most celebrated reds. And the orange wine — bottled in terracotta — pushes the boundaries of what Bulgarian skin-contact wine can be.
The New Face of Bulgarian Wine & the Honest Hand
Rossidi Winery is not merely a winery; it is a proof that a hobby can become a national landmark, that a concrete warehouse next to a cement plant can produce one of the top three wines in Bulgaria, that a graphic designer can change how an entire country labels Gewürztraminer, and that a concrete egg can produce a Chardonnay more talked-about than any oak-barrelled competitor. In an era when Bulgarian wine was expected to come from fancy chateaux with imported consultants and massive marketing budgets, the Kourians demonstrated that the truest Bulgarian wine is made not by following international fashion but by listening to the vineyard, by fermenting with native yeast, by refusing to overwhelm the grapes with new oak, and by believing that a wine's label should be as honest as its contents. The same Rubin that was dismissed as a socialist agricultural experiment has become a wine that critics rank among the nation's best. The same Gewürztraminer that other producers hid behind the name "Traminer" has become a benchmark for aromatic whites in Bulgaria. And the same Mavrud that was considered brutish and tannic has become, in Peter Georgiev's hands, a wine that is refreshing, elegant, and utterly drinkable.
The legacy of Rossidi is the legacy of the honest hand in Bulgarian viticulture. The 2008 founding is not a distant memory but a living declaration — a reminder that the best wines are made by families who start with 5,000 bottles for friends and grow, slowly and deliberately, into something that changes the culture around them. The concrete egg is not a gimmick but a philosophical commitment — a recognition that wine can be enriched without wood, and that the ancient shapes of winemaking (amphora, kvevri, egg) have something to teach the modern world. The hand-drawn labels are not a marketing strategy but a personal statement — each one a unique work of art that communicates something essential about the wine inside. And the industrial winery is not a compromise but a liberation — a rejection of the pretension that great wine must come from great real estate.
The future of the project is tied to the future of the Bulgarian terroir-driven wine movement — to the growing recognition that the most authentic wines come not from the hottest regions or the biggest budgets but from the most committed hands. As the Rubin continues to introduce the world to a Bulgarian variety that exists nowhere else, as the egg-fermented Chardonnay proves that Bulgaria can innovate rather than imitate, as the Gewürztraminer demonstrates that honesty in labelling can change an entire market, and as the orange wine pushes the boundaries of what Bulgarian skin-contact wine can achieve, Rossidi remains what the Kourians have always intended it to be: a living family estate grounded in terroir transparency, experimental courage, and absolute respect for the Eastern Thracian Valley, the Nikolaevo vineyard, and the ancient vine — structured not by fashion or technology but by family, vision, and the eternal reminder that the best bottle is sometimes the one that comes from a warehouse, fermented in an egg, sealed with nothing but pride, and opened with nothing but gratitude. The story of this winery is the story of a family who looked at a warm, fertile valley and saw not a limitation but a vineyard — and who proved that the best Bulgarian bottle is sometimes the one that refuses to pretend.
"I didn't want to have one line of labels where everything is the same except the varietal name changes. I want to represent something about the grape on the label."
— Eddie Kourian, Co-Founder & CEO, Rossidi Winery