Two Valleys, One Passion & the Oenologist's Hand

The story of Via Vinera begins in the village of Karabunar, in the Western Thracian Lowlands, where winemaking has been woven into the fabric of daily life for as long as anyone can remember. In 2007, the Karabunar Winery was established in the Sharovitsa area near the village — a modest beginning that would grow into one of Bulgaria's most dynamic wine estates. The region around Karabunar is not merely a wine region; it is a place where the ancient Thracian tradition of viticulture has never been interrupted, where the soil remembers the footsteps of Dionysus, and where every family has a vine or a barrel in their yard. The founders understood that to build something lasting, they needed not just land and equipment but vision, patience, and a deep respect for the local heritage.

The turning point came with the arrival of Nadezhda Dyulgerska. Born in the town of Rakovski, she graduated from the University of Food Technology in Plovdiv in 2000 with a degree in Wine and Beer Technology, followed by a second specialisation in Food and Beverage Quality Management. She began her career as a microbiologist and technologist at Chernomorsko Zlato AD in Pomorie — one of Bulgaria's historic coastal wineries — before joining Via Vinera in August 2014. For Nadezhda, wine is not merely a profession but a calling. As she says: "Wine is philosophy, passion, emotion, love, mystery, friendship... For me, it is summarised in one word: life." She is a member of the Board of the Union of Oenologists in Bulgaria, serves as an international wine competition judge, and was named "Oenologist of the Year" — a recognition of her extraordinary contribution to Bulgarian winemaking. Under her leadership, the estate has undergone a complete modernisation, with new plantings, new technologies, and a renewed commitment to expressing the character of both terroirs.

The estate's growth has been deliberate and ambitious. From the original Karabunar cellar, the project expanded to include vineyards near the town of Kilifarevo in the Central Danubian Plain — a cooler, more continental terroir that provides a striking contrast to the warmth of the Thracian Lowlands. The Via Vinera brand itself was formally established in 2017–2018 as a new premium identity under the Karabunar wine cellar, designed to showcase the estate's most refined expressions. The name "Via Vinera" translates from Latin as "the way of wine" — a path that the estate invites every visitor to walk. The Castellum series (Latin for "fortress" or "watchtower") was created as the apex of the portfolio — wines that observe the traditions of Bulgarian winemaking from above, with patience and nobility. The Bulgarian Heritage series was conceived as a tribute to indigenous varieties, with labels drawn from the Glagolitsa — the first Bulgarian alphabet — a visual statement that these wines are not merely products but carriers of cultural memory. And the Contour series connects the two terroirs like a line of equal altitude on a map, offering accessible, unpretentious wines for everyday pleasure. This is a winery that thinks in systems, stories, and symbols — and that believes the best way to honour the past is to reinvent it.

The winemaking at Via Vinera is defined by three principles: terroir transparency, technical precision, and the relentless pursuit of balance between tradition and innovation. Nadezhda Dyulgerska approaches every vintage with the discipline of a scientist and the soul of an artist. Her 18 years of experience as an oenologist, combined with her role as an international wine competition judge, give her a unique perspective: she knows not only how to make wine but how wine is judged at the highest levels, and she crafts every bottle with that standard in mind. The estate uses only the highest quality grapes harvested from its own vineyards in Karabunar and Kilifarevo, and the entire team is dedicated to preserving the terroir character of both regions in every glass.

For the Castellum series — the estate's apex tier — the approach is one of patience and selection. Only the best batches of wine, made from strictly selected grapes, are chosen for Castellum. These wines are aged in French oak barrels to develop complexity, structure, and a noble character that evolves over years in the cellar. The Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Merlot expressions in this series are not merely aged; they are observed — monitored, tasted, and adjusted with the vigilance of a watchtower keeper. The Via Vinera series follows a similar philosophy for the estate's international varieties, with careful oak ageing and blending that highlights the fruit character while adding depth and sophistication. The Syrah-Cabernet Franc 2017 — which won Gold at MUNDUS VINI 2021 — is a testament to Nadezhda's gift for blending: two varieties, two personalities, finding each other in the bottle with a harmony that surprised even its creator. "There was no way to miss it," she recalls. "The wine was simply remarkable."

The Bulgarian Heritage series is where Nadezhda's heart truly lies. This is the range that allows her to express her love for Bulgarian indigenous varieties and to experiment with techniques that push the boundaries of what these grapes can achieve. The orange wines — made from Dimyat and Misket by skin-contact fermentation — are aged for one month in new Bulgarian oak barrels of 400 and 500 litres, developing a texture and complexity that elevates them far beyond the typical white wine. The Dimyat Orange is pale orange with a shiny glare, offering an intensive juicy aroma of apricot, sugary fruits, vanilla, and a touch of toasted bread, with a fresh, fruity, slightly caramel taste and a medium body. The Orange Misket is vivid pale orange with light pink shades, dominated by the scent of mature yellow apple, spring flowers, and citrus fragrances. These are wines that prove everything new is a well-forgotten old — a recognition that the ancient techniques of skin-contact winemaking have something essential to teach the modern world. The Contour series, meanwhile, is crafted for immediacy and pleasure: aromatic, approachable, and unpretentious — wines that invite a second glass without demanding a dissertation. This is winemaking as craft, science, and the relentless pursuit of what Bulgarian terroir can become when guided by a woman who sees wine as life itself.

Via Vinera is not merely a winery; it is a proof that a woman from Rakovski can look at two Bulgarian valleys and see not limitations but a symphony, that a cellar built in 2007 can produce a Cabernet Franc that wins Grand Gold at MUNDUS VINI, that indigenous varieties like Dimyat and Misket can captivate the Asian edition of Decanter, and that the first Bulgarian alphabet — the Glagolitsa — can find new life on the labels of wines that carry Bulgarian culture to the world. In an era when Bulgarian wine was struggling to define itself between international imitation and indigenous neglect, Nadezhda Dyulgerska and the Via Vinera team demonstrated that the truest Bulgarian wine is made not by choosing between tradition and modernity but by embracing both — by ageing international varieties in French oak and by skin-fermenting Dimyat in Bulgarian oak, by winning Grand Gold in Europe and by earning recognition in Asia, by building a modern cellar and by honouring a 4,000-year-old Thracian legacy. The same Cabernet Franc that might have been dismissed as unsuited to Bulgarian terroir has become a Grand Gold medalist. The same Dimyat that was considered a workhorse grape has become a star of the Decanter World Wine Awards. And the same woman who began as a microbiologist in Pomorie has become one of Bulgaria's most celebrated oenologists — a judge, a leader, and a living proof that the wine world is not a reserved territory but a space for all who love the craft.

The legacy of Via Vinera is the legacy of the woman's hand in Bulgarian viticulture — not as a token presence but as a driving force. Nadezhda Dyulgerska's 18 years of experience, her role as an international judge, her position on the Board of the Union of Oenologists, and her title of "Oenologist of the Year" are not personal achievements alone; they are beacons for every woman in Bulgaria who dreams of making wine. As she says: "Our feminine way of expression is connected with a string of passions and temperament. Exactly this emotionality makes the representation of women on the Bulgarian wine scene so vivid and different." The Via Vinera team includes other women — like Snezana, a young analyst filled with ambition to learn — and the estate's culture is one of mentorship, inclusion, and shared passion. This is not merely a winery; it is a community — a place where the way of wine is walked by many, and where every step forward is taken together.

The future of the project is tied to the future of the Bulgarian dual-terroir movement — to the growing recognition that the most interesting wines come not from a single place but from the conversation between places. As the Castellum series continues to collect international medals, as the Bulgarian Heritage orange wines introduce new audiences to the ancient techniques of skin-contact fermentation, as the Contour series makes quality Bulgarian wine accessible to everyday drinkers, and as the brandies cement the estate's reputation beyond the world of wine, Via Vinera remains what Nadezhda Dyulgerska has always intended it to be: a living estate grounded in two terroirs, four series, and one unwavering passion — structured not by fashion or shortcuts but by professionalism, vision, and the eternal reminder that the best Bulgarian bottle is sometimes the one made by a woman who sees wine as life, who walks the way of wine with every harvest, and who believes that the vineyards of Karabunar and Kilifarevo are not two separate places but two voices in the same song. The story of this winery is the story of a woman who looked at two Bulgarian valleys and heard a harmony — and who proved that the best Bulgarian wine is sometimes the one that comes from listening to the land, trusting the grape, and never, ever, missing the remarkable.