Assenovgrad Ambelino Brandy
Assenovgrad Ambelino Brandy | 0,5 l
-23%9,90 Euro1 l costs 19,80 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie Brandy 5 Jahre
Black Sea Gold Pomorie Brandy 5 YO | 0,5 l
13,90 Euro1 l costs 27,80 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie Brandy 5 Jahre
Black Sea Gold Pomorie Brandy 5 YO | 0,7 l
16,90 Euro1 l costs 24,14 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie V.S.O.P. Brandy Box
Black Sea Gold Pomorie V.S.O.P. Brandy Box | 0,7 l
29,95 Euro1 l costs 42,79 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie XO Brandy Vintage 2002
Black Sea Gold Pomorie XO Brandy Vintage 2002 | 0,7 l
49,95 Euro1 l costs 71,36 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie 33 XO Brandy
Black Sea Gold Pomorie 33 XO Brandy | 0,7 l
Sold out89,99 Euro1 l costs 128,56 Euro
Karnobat Brandy in edler Karaffenflasche
Karnobat Brandy | 0,7 l
14,90 Euro1 l costs 21,29 Euro
Peshtera Lion Dor Brandy
Peshtera Lion Dor Brandy | 0,7 l
Sold out13,90 Euro1 l costs 19,86 Euro
Vinex Preslav Slantschew Brjag Brandy Weinbrand
Vinex Preslav Slantschew Brjag | 0,5 l
Sold out12,90 Euro1 l costs 25,80 Euro
pliska brandy 0.5l von vinex preslav.
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 36% Vol. | 0,5 l
Sold out10,90 Euro1 l costs 21,80 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 200ml
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 40% Vol. | 0,2 l
Sold out5,95 Euro100 ml cost 2,98 Euro
pliska brandy 0.5l von vinex preslav.
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 40% Vol. | 0,5 l
Sold out14,90 Euro1 l costs 29,80 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 700ml
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy 5 YO 40% Vol. | 0,7 l
Sold out16,90 Euro1 l costs 24,14 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska VSOP Reserve 7 Jahre
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy VSOP Reserve 7 YO | 0,7 l
Sold out18,99 Euro1 l costs 27,13 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska VSOP Reserve 7 Jahre in Geschenkbox
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy VSOP Reserve 7 YO Box | 0,7 l
Sold out19,90 Euro1 l costs 28,43 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska XO Reserve 15 YO Box
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy XO Reserve 15 YO Box | 0,7 l
Sold out24,90 Euro1 l costs 35,57 Euro
Der Pliska XO 10 YO ist ein Premium Brandy aus dem Hause Vinex Preslav.
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy XO Premium 10 YO | 0,5 l
Sold out24,95 Euro1 l costs 49,90 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska Coffee Brandy
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy Coffee | 0,5 l
Sold out12,90 Euro1 l costs 25,80 Euro
Vinex Preslav Pliska Chocolate Brandy
Vinex Preslav Pliska Brandy Chocolate | 0,5 l
Sold out12,90 Euro1 l costs 25,80 Euro
Black Sea Gold Pomorie 69
Black Sea Gold Pomorie 69 | 0,7 l
Sold out12,90 Euro1 l costs 18,43 Euro

Brandy: A small brandy journey from Pliska to Cognac

Brandy is considered to be the most pleasant "side effect" of wine production par excellence. Almost every winegrower who thinks highly of himself produces, in addition to his wines, this popular, golden to amber and brownish shimmering grape brandy. On the one hand, because he can. On the other hand, because brandy adds a whole nother dimension of good taste and traditional drinking culture to the depth of his range. In this article you can travel through the history of brandy, read more about its definition and its different qualities and visit Pliska, the old capital of Bulgaria, which is considered the cradle of all Bulgarian brandies.

As is probably the case with all spirits produced for a long time by many peoples and in many regions of the world, the history of brandy is not least a history of linguistic conventions and their ramifications. For even though almost all people in the wine-growing regions of our planet know and produce brandy, in their everyday language brandy is far from having the same meaning for everyone. Brandy is not just brandy. A German, for example, who speaks of brandy, may be referring to a very specific type of brandy, for example a Spanish brandy. However, if he speaks of a cognac, unlike a Frenchman, for example, he can also be refering to any type of brandy. And this is exactly what makes the understanding of the different meanings of brandy complicated beyond their already confusing congruence.

The history of brandy: From a worldwide common good to a versatile speciality

After all, what happens when a very specific alcoholic and highly aromatic drink is not only produced all over the world, but is also appreciated all over the world? Correct! Every region develops a natural ambition to make its product something very special. Something that stands out, that attracts the attention and desires of everyone. This circumstance has significantly influenced the success story of brandy.

According to historians, brandy was distilled for the first time in the last decades of the early Middle Ages, presumably - according to relevant archaeological findings - in the area of present-day Turkey. Even if some Bulgarians would like to believe that this should of course be narrowed down a little further, for example with the more generous passage "somewhere near the Black Sea". From there, brandy spread quickly throughout Europe, where it was mainly spread in the course of the High Middle Ages via the monasteries that were actively involved in viticulture. The monks, who in many places were involved in the medical care of the population, used the "distilled wine" for internal and external application for the sick and injured. The Middle Low German word Brandewin coined the later worldwide common term Brandy as a synonym for Brandewin through the English phrase Brandy wine.

The fact that people began to appreciate brandy not only as a medical necessity but also as a general stimulant is closely related to the thirst for adventure and discovery that characterised the great seafaring nations - above all the Spanish and the French - in the early modern period following the Middle Ages. The wine carried in barrels on ships, which was indispensable for crews, officers and later also for the settlers who supplied them, often tipped over during the long sea voyages and became sour and inedible. Brandewin or brandy was not wine. But it was also highly aromatic, fulfilled the same and other purposes and, if necessary, lasted for years. It was also very easy to make.


A simple procedure and yet an art form: The production of Brandy

Distilling a well-balanced brandy that convinces the connoisseur is without a doubt an art in itself. However, the actual technical process is not particularly complicated. Fermented grape juice serves as the basis, which is distilled in the still, brought to drinking strength after the distillation process and then filled into barrels for further storage and maturation. It goes without saying that, in addition to a good sense of timing and the finer points of distillation, the quality of the grapes used as well as the storage time and the wood used for the barrels play a decisive role in the quality of the result.

As similar as most of the brandies in the world are in the process of their production, they differ as much as the wine varieties that form their basis do in terms of their respective regional tastes. After the beginning of its career on sailing ships and as an export-hit in the New World, brandy spread and gained recognition over time, first in the so-called better society and finally, at the beginning of the 20th century at the latest, also among the general population.

All over the world, France and Spain are still considered the great brandy countries, although the French do not use the term brandy at all. For example, they call a brandy Armagnac if it comes from Gascony and Cognac if it comes from the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments around the town of the same name. Nevertheless, French brandies are as legendary as Spanish brandies, which in turn come mainly from the region around the city of Jerez in Andalusia and owe their typical taste to a multi-stage maturing and storage process not used in brandy production anywhere else in the world. In Germany, on the other hand, for a long time brandy was generally called cognac, often even Kognak, which officially changed after the First World War, when the piqued French outlawed what they saw as an outrageous lack of culture once and for all by a clause in the Treaty of Versailles.

A short overview of common Brandy qualities

It would be a huge undertaking to catalogue all the brandies in Europe alone and their respective regional and national varieties. After all, apart from the northern and some eastern European countries, there is no country in Europe that does not grow wine. That is why many have their own brandy culture. Various product designations, such as the Brandy de Jerez or Cognac mentioned above, and also the Italian Vecchia Romagna, are also protected by strict legal regulations on their origin and production. Nevertheless, it is possible to describe some general characteristics that make the designation as Brandy binding. For example, a spirit drink may call itself Brandy only if

- their alcoholic strength has been obtained exclusively by distillation of wine,
- the minimum alcoholic strength by volume at the time of bottling is 36 % or, in the case of wine spirits produced in Germany, 38 %,
- it has been aged for more than 6 months in oak barrels of less than 1,000 litres and for more than 12 months in those of more than 1,000 litres capacity, and
- no flavourings or additives are added to it, with a few traditionally justified exceptions, such as small amounts of vanilla and caramel syrup.

Brandy or Pliska? A typical Bulgarian mixture

In Bulgaria, too, the history of brandy is one in which not least terms and definitions play a role. After all, the terms pliska and brandy actually mean the same thing there: both designate the typical local brandy distilled from local wines. Pliska is the older designation. But brandy has also established itself as a term in Bulgaria.

As already mentioned, many Bulgarians consider the general opinion of historians that the first brandy in history was distilled on the territory of present-day Turkey, not a mistake, but nevertheless a somewhat too narrow assessment. In fact, there is some evidence that the region around Pliska - the capital of ancient Bulgaria in the early Middle Ages - which is not far from the present border with Turkey, was one of the first areas in Europe to practise the distillation of brandy in addition to viticulture.

Whether Pliska or brandy, the liquor is still very popular in Bulgaria. In the rest of the world, people prefer to drink it from the large cognac snifter - slightly warmed or room temperature, depending on preference. For example for dessert. As a digestif with a cigar. Or simply with coffee among friends. Additionally, although this is at least officially frowned upon by many, it is convenient to have it in the coffee itself.

The leaders of Bulgaria: Balkan-style Brandies

The Bulgarians would not be the Bulgarians if they had not developed a special expertise in brandy based on their Pliska tradition and world-class wines and their passion for perfecting great liquors. It is therefore no coincidence that connoisseurs all over the world are becoming increasingly fond of brandy made in Bulgaria and that the products of the various wineries and winegrowers, especially in recent decades, have not had to fear comparison even with French or Spanish brandies of the highest quality.

The Bulgaria Online Shop has made it its business to provide you with the widest possible selection of Bulgaria's diverse, pliska and brandy specialties. Some highlights stand out in an extraordinary way.

Vinex Preslav Pliska: The gentleman among the Bulgarian Brandies

Preslav Pliska convinces as a brandy of the VSOP class with its gentlemanly qualities of taste, which even many a Western European brandy from the best locations sees itself unmasked as a mere dandy. VSOP stands for "Very Superior Old Pale." Composed of the wine varieties Dimyat and Ugni Blanc, after seven years of aging in barrels made of oaks grown in the Strandhza Mountains, it stands out for its extraordinary complexity. Its brand-typical aroma plays confidently with light hints of vanilla, chocolate and warm spicy wood. In the glass it exemplifies the racy mahogany colour that characterises the genuine Pliska. This masterpiece of distillery of the Vinex Preslav winery, founded in 1948, is one of the preferred spirits in the finer coffee houses of Sofia.

Black Sea Gold Pomorie XO: The Brandy of the Black Sea

The wines of the Pomorie peninsula in south-eastern Bulgaria, which stretches into the Black Sea, were already famous in ancient times and, according to mythical tradition, were the favourite drink on the tables of the kings of Troy. Under the same sun and in the same soil as back then, the grapes that form the basis for Black Sea Gold Pomorie, a brandy of the XO class, ripen today. It is made from various vintage distillates that have been aged for up to 15 years in oak barrels. The result: a harmonious taste experience with notes of caramel, vanilla and figs, which flatters its creators - the experts at Black Sea Gold Pomorie - from the complex top note, through the full-bodied aroma and golden yellow colour, to the emphatically smooth finish all along the line.

Carnobat Brandy: The Blanc de Noir among the Bulgarian Brandies

A brandy as typically Bulgarian as its producer, the Karnobat winery. This representative of its kind, enchanting in the glass with an intense amber tone, is refined in two ways. On the one hand, it is distilled from young white wines as well as from red grapes grown in the manner of a white wine. Secondly, the distillates that come together in this brandy are aged in oak barrels of different ages. The result is an all-round convincing and complex brandy aroma with inspiring hints of vanilla, caramel and walnuts.

Brandy from Bulgaria: No end in sight

Brandy from Bulgaria is nothing new in Germany. Already in the 1960s, business people inspired by holidays on the Black Sea coast imported Pliska towards Germania with great success. With the beginning of the cocktail-happy 1990s, brandy - not only from Bulgaria - initially took a back seat to the broad market interest. Since the beginning of the 1990s, however, brandy from Bulgaria has been on the rise again throughout Europe and thus also in Germany. It is to be expected that this trend will continue. So don't miss the opportunity to visit us regularly and find out which new highlights or special offers in Bulgarian brandies.

By the way, did you know what the French call a brandy that does not come from Gascony or the two departments around Cognac? La fine. So you should treat yourself to a fine glass of brandy or pliska. No matter whether you say "Prosit!", "Santé" or in Bulgarian "Nasdrave!