THE BLOG OF TOM & MARIA GRAY ON THE BULGARIAN WINE
Some time ago, we and our friend Tom Gray, a comedy writer of international recognition and true lover of the Bulgarian wine, thought over the idea of showing his funny point of view on the wine industry of Bulgaria.
The time has come now to give the start of our collaboration with an author’s column (blog) of Tom and his wife Maria, which will be published on our website.
We hope you will be having fun with everything you are about to read and you will be receiving their impressions with a proper sense of humor.
Have a wonderful time with the blog of Tom and Maria Gray!
VinoZona
Instead of a Resume
I was born at a young age and started to write before I could walk.
My first broadcast TV work, a well-meaning sketch about euthanasia, won a Golden Comedy Award in Montreaux and was sold in 25 countries including Bulgaria way back in the 80’s.
Since then I have been selling my intended puns across the world of TV, magazines and online and subsequently I learned to walk.
I married Maria in 2004, the year I could have facebooked her instead.
I and my wife were amongst the first wine tourists in Bulgaria, in the days before the term was even conceived and when we were simply called drunkards.
Together, we have visited countless vineyards in the country from the huge factories to boutique family-run affairs.
Welcome to our stories.
Tom Gray
November 2018
It was here we met the charming Daniela, at the time, the wine-maker-in-waiting, who ushered us through a modern winery to an ominous set of gates which would not look out of place in a prisoner of war movie.
We continued another 100 meters and suddenly the aptly named tunnel opened out into a large cave - the so-called Bat Gallery. We hoped the electricity in the Batcave stayed on long enough for us not to discover how apt this name was.
Some brave souls dare to let their wines rather than their wineries do the talking. That’s why we find ourselves dodging death in the goods yard of a cement works staring at a drab, windowless hut seemingly just waiting for demolition probably by the next cement mixer cocking up it’s turning circle...
The door opened and out stepped a cool dude. Some people just exude equanimity (Google it!) and Edi, co-founder of the winery, has it in bucket loads.
Our journey of discovery into the world of Bulgarian wine began exactly 7 years ago.
And what a difference in 7 years... Wine bars only serving Bulgarian wine, a huge growth in independent vineyards and the ability to serve a Sandanski Misket at the right temperature.
So, we decided to write about our adventures with Bulgarian wine. And called this blog by the provocative name of Spit and Swallow’s Guide to Bulgarian Wine. An honest one about the wines and winemakers of Bulgaria.