Four Friends

Our philosophy is to strive for perfection with premium wines by paying special attention and diligent care to every detail: in the vineyards, in the cellar, in our relationship with the environment. We make unique wines for special moments with your special people!

Four Friends appeared on the local scene and immediately stood out with the exceptional taste of its wines.

Four Friends Winery boasts over 40 hectares of vineyards in the most suitable region for grape cultivation in Bulgaria – the Thracian Valley. The estate is nestled in the land of Gorno Botevo village, east of the city of Stara Zagora.

The choice was not random – the area is famous for its millennial winemaking traditions, dating back 4000 years! These are precisely the traditions that four enthusiastic friends, connoisseurs of fine Bulgarian wine, wish to revive.

The first vineyards of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot varieties were planted in 2006 after careful study of the terrain, climate, and soil conditions in the region.

Since 2010, all the winery's vineyards have been bearing fruit, and the grapes are hand-picked with particular attention to the bunches. The bunches are sorted by hand, with only healthy and clean bunches heading to the winery.

The wine matures in oak barrels. They are regularly topped up, and qualitative changes that occur due to the wine's contact with the oak wood are monitored. The winery has a modern, well-equipped laboratory. The dynamics of grape development are monitored daily through laboratory analyses for sugar content, titratable acids, and pH.

Vineyards

We believe that our own grape production is the key to creating good wine. Our experience in viticulture proves that proper vineyard cultivation and quality yield require a lot of care and attention. All vineyards are monitored by an experienced team of agronomists, led by Atanas Shiderov, who manually track the condition of the plantations. Constant monitoring prevents drying out or over-irrigation of the crops.

Terroir

We cultivate our vineyards using a special technology that combines modern viticultural practices and manual care – the best formula for high-quality wine. The wine grape varieties best express their biological potential when trained to the Moser cordon system. The grapes ferment in special fermenters that facilitate the extraction of their qualities and then age in oak barrels. The interaction between the wine and the oak barrels contributes to the nuances in taste and aroma, and a complete delight for the senses.

Climate

The natural conditions are particularly suitable for growing grape varieties - a mild, moderately continental climate and many sunny days (over 3000 hours of sunshine, over 120 days a year). The sun helps our grapes accumulate sweetness, which in combination with low acidity and coloring matter creates the ideal balance for the unique taste of our wine.

The wines in the "Four Friends" winery are produced using classic technologies with a great deal of manual labor – this largely determines the quality of the wine. The total capacity of the cellar is 400,000 liters of wine, with the possibility of producing 300,000 bottles annually. The fermenters we use are "vat" type, which are used in all boutique wineries for the production of high-quality wines. We also use them because they allow for entirely manual control of the fermentation process, which is very important for achieving the soft taste and aroma of our wine.