People nowadays can choose between different forms of entertainment, but sipping on a glass of high-quality wine after the long and tiresome day is perhaps the easiest way to relax. Those who wonder how to combine their dinner with the appropriate type of wine can learn that in Bulgaria’s new wine academy named Wine & Spirits Academy Bulgaria (WSAB) which works in cooperation with the British wine academy - Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Wine and Spirit functions in 66 countries and allows people to receive a high-quality university education in wine science and turn their hobby into profession. In 2014 nearly 61,000 students graduated in various courses of that programme. Since 1969 professionals from the wine industry have been receiving certificates and recently Bulgarian enthusiasts also received that opportunity, too. The academy places wine at a very high level.

Dimitar Nikolov who lectures at WSAB is a wine expert with a twelve year-long experience in that field. He studied at ISG Chicago and completed an advanced level at WSAT London. In an interview for Radio Bulgaria Dimitar talks about the training atmosphere:  

“The wine academy sends training material in advance, so that the participants can prepare before they come for the actual training. The training is held in an interactive environment and finishes with an exam. The first-level test consists of thirty questions and the answers are later checked in England. If 70% of the answers are correct, the applicant receives a certificate. The training course itself consists of fifteen participants and three lecturers. In the beginning, the lecturers introduce everyone into the world of wine and make a schedule for the day. It consists of wine tasting before noon and an afternoon tasting session. Lecturers also hold practical lessons and teach students how to open wine bottles with sparkling, white, or red wine. This is followed by a workshop about the combination between food and wine. The training lasts throughout the whole day. Here is an example of a first-level question: What taste is associated with wine that matures in oak barrels? And the answers are: raspberry flavor, melon flavor, apple and vanilla. The correct answer is vanilla. The taste of vanilla is associated with wine matured in oak wood. We hold lectures about wine itself, its characteristics, the specifics of the region a given grape is grown, the varieties of grapes and the world practices in that field.” 
 
Dimitar Nikolov is assisted by Eduard Kiriyan and Alexander Skorchev, a WSAB manager, wine-lecturer and sommelier with eleven years of experience in the wine industry as senior sommelier and wine buyer. Eduard and Alexander possess WSET advanced certificates and are currently WSET Diploma students.

This type of training is not cheap at all. However, it is unique and appropriate for all CVs. The lecturers contend that wine culture in Bulgaria was until recently in a standstill. However, it started to flourish again in the past two years and caught up with the other EU states. Wine training is held in four levels - from amateurs to experts.

How to match wine and food is seemingly an amateur and simple question. However, it turned out to be quite complicated:

“My colleagues often say: The rule is that there are no rules here. This is true to some extent. However, there are certain norms that have to be observed when matching wine with food. Usually, the density of the wine and the thickness of the sauce of given meal should be identical. Their acidity and sweetness should be similar as well. For instance, a fruit wine with high alcohol content should be combined with a juicy red meat. We always try to combine the main characteristics of a given dish with similar characteristics in a given wine. Sometimes, people choose wine which is exactly opposite to the selected meal. Some experts claim that red wine goes well with cheese only and that it should not be combined with fish for example. However, I believe that this is not true. Some basic rules must be followed, but sometimes wonders happen accidentally.”

Dimitar, Alexander and Eduard describe the wine academy as a dream come true. Nothing is better than the chance of turning your hobby into profession. The available positions at the wine academy are literally filled within seconds after they are announced. We wish all wine enthusiasts good luck. Cheers!

English version: Kostadin Atanasov