On Saturday, February 16th, as soon as the sun rose over Augeo’s vineyards, the preparation for Trifon Zarezan, the wine holiday began. Before 10 o’clock when the event was announced it would start, the first guests already started to arrive. They followed the special Augeo signs, placed especially for the event, and the GPS coordinates, and they discovered our meeting place. The guests were greeted by three generations from the family of the producers – Maria, her son Stoyan, and his daughter Gergana.
The celebration began with a ritual by priest Angel and the traditional pruning of the vines of the emblematic for the region and for Augeo grape variety Melnik 55. All 220 guests had the opportunity to try the pruning process, and most did.
Lots of music and good mood followed the wine tasting of all wines in Augeo’s portfolio. Throughout the day the music performances by the Folklore program with performance groups from the neighboring town Katuntsi were alternating with folk songs and national dances. The event’s guests joined a traditional horo dance, including some of our international guests from Austria, England, Greece, Australia and South Korea.
The wines that recently received medals from competitions in England and China sparked a large interest among the wine tasters. The wines from the traditional varieties Augeo Melnik 55 and Augeo Ruen were tasted right next to the vineyards were the grapes for these wines comes from. The new bio wine series, including Augeo Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 and Augeo Red Blend Reserve 2015 received an ovation.
We look forward to the next Melnik Wineries Open Doors Days next year when we hope to see you again there!
