The Wine Museum ( bg, Музей на виното, ''Muzey na vinoto'') is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

and

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

located in

Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...

, a city in north central

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. Opened on 17 September 2008, the museum occupies a natural cave in Pleven's

Kaylaka Kaylaka ( ) is a large park and protected area south of Pleven, Bulgaria, situated in a Karst valley. The park is spread over 10 km2 and is surrounded by sheer cliffs that suggest favourable conditions for rock climbing. The ruins of the Roma ...

park, about from the city centre. The museum was the result of a collaboration between Bulgarian and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

architects, designers and oenologists, as well as curators from the

Pleven Panorama Pleven Epopee 1877, more commonly known as Pleven Panorama, is a panorama located in Pleven, Bulgaria, that depicts the events of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–78, specifically the five-month Siege of Plevna (Pleven Epopee) which made the cit ...

and the

Pleven Regional Historical Museum The Pleven Regional Historical Museum ( bg, Регионален исторически музей — Плевен), founded in 1953, is one of the largest museums in Bulgaria. The museum is situated in a two-story edifice near the centre o ...

. The cave which houses the museum is near the Totleben's Rampart Reservoir, and has five galleries and a total area of . The Wine Museum's collection includes over 6,000 bottles of Bulgarian wine from all viticultural regions of the country, which are available for tasting and purchase. In addition, the museum boasts the country's largest collection of over 7,000 old wines (ranging from 30 to 90 years in age). The museum's historical hall exhibits items related to vine growing and wine making in the Bulgarian lands from ancient

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

times until today. The wine cellar offers wines from all Bulgarian regions stored in 100

wine barrel Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a ves ...

s made of

oak. The museum's wine collection is owned by Plamen Petkov, a major local vineyard owner, who has invested over $300,000 in temperature control systems, flooring and lighting for the cave which houses the museum. Pleven is located in the heart of a major vine-growing region, the Danubian Plain. The city is also a centre of wine-related education, as it is the home of Bulgaria's first and only specialized high school, the Aleksandar Stamboliyski Professional High School of Vine Growing and Wine Making, established in 1890. The National Institute of Viticulture and Oenology, founded in 1902 at the recommendation of French wine specialist Pierre Viala, is also located in Pleven.

References

{{reflist Museums established in 2008 Buildings and structures in Pleven Landforms of Pleven Province Museums in Pleven Province Caves of Bulgaria Wine museums

See also

References