Bulgaria, although far from the most famous or prestigious of the world's wine-producing nations, certainly ranks among the most prolific. The Eastern European country has a long history of viticulture, and its wine has more about it than implied by the sea of cheap red (mostly varietal Cabernet Sauvignon) that flowed westwards during the 1980s.
The nation is now home to a growing number of promising wine pioneers, but perhaps the most distinguished era of Bulgarian viticulture so far dates back to the mid-14th century, just before the once-powerful Bulgarian Empire began to fragment and ceded power to the Ottomans. Bulgarian art more than 1000 years old depicts wine as part of Bulgarian culture, particularly among the ruling classes. One notable painting from 811 AD shows Bulgarian monarch Khan Krum drinking wine from the skull of Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I, his opponent at the battle of Pliska. Today the Khan Krum winery in the Black Sea region bears his name.