Before Retirement, Vance Petrunoff Was Selling Bulgarian Wines from Sonoma, CA

Working in Denver has a great meaning to me, here I started my new life in the US 26 years ago. My first Jazz Club in America revisited - and it is great as it was. Great hangout, good baklava Sea Horse above Denver

This article was published in The 30 Second Wine Advisor on Friday, May. 20, 2011 and can be found at http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/tswa20110520.php . If you grew up during the Cold War, chances are that you think of Bulgaria - if you think of it at all - as one of those sad Slavic countries held behind the Iron Curtain, a drab and poor dictatorship, not a likely destination for travel or exports. If you looked closely at the labels of cheap wines in the bargain bins during the 1980s, you might have recognized Bulgaria on the label of some inexpensive, decent but forgettable table wines. (Many of them were exported by the Pepsi-Cola company, not that Pepsi made any real effort to publicize this.) Since the Eastern Bloc fell apart in the early 1990s, unfortunately, Bulgaria wasn't one of the first to bounce back. Its old collectivized wine industry, now independent, sent a lot of bulk wine to Britain, but it wasn't memorable wine. But a recent tasting of wines from...

Friday's tasting of Bulgarian wines at Woodlands Market in Kentfield, CA - one of the most expensive markets in California. Wines featured at the - Targovishte Traminer 2009 and Targovishte Chardonnay 2009 and our VINI Merlot 2008 and Sauvignon Blanc 2009- all very well received from the first pour I was in the middle of very knowledgeable crowd

Wine Advocate Reviews – current issue eRobertParker.com, #190 Aug 2010 This lineup from Targovishte, and its sister winery, Vini, some drinking values that consumers should find attractive as it is hard to play in this price category these days. As a bonus, they are generally relatively low in alcohol, usually around 12%. What don’t they do? First, I think all of them will tend to drink best on the young and fresh side, however long they hold, which is not a major criticism in this price range. Second, they do sometimes have some typicity issues—that is, they do not always remind me much of the most common styles for which the grapes are best known. Once past that, though, they hold up quite nicely as wines. Vintage Wine Name Rating Maturity Price 2009 Targovishte Sauvignon Blanc 86 Mature $9 The 2009 SAUVIGNON BLANC from Targovishte has more intensity and solidity than its sister Sauv Blanc revie...

"Традиция от Стария свят за вкусовете на Новия" е рекламният слогон на единствените вносители на български вина в Калифорния - Bulgarian Master Vintners. Българският емигрант Ванс Петрунов не страда от национален комплекс за малоценност и не му липсва дързост да предложи родното вино в сърцето на американската винарска индустрия. Ако не можеш да започнеш бизнес с вино там, където традициите са най-силни, то не би трябвало да се захващаш с това изобщо, твърди президентът на Bulgarian Master Vintners специално за Businessweek България. Според него, ако човек иска да продава автомобили, отива в Детройт, а ако произвежда компютри, се насочва към Силиконовата долина. И така Ванс Петрунов започва да внася вина от България преди 12 години и се установява в Сонома, на 15 минути път от Вълчата къща на Джек Лондон и на няколко преки от най-старата винарна в Калифорния - Buena Vista. През 1995 научава как Домейн Бояр продава над 2.5 млн. каси вино във Великобритания за период от една го...