Културно-исторически проблеми, свързани с въпросите за производство на червено и бяло вино
Cultural and Historical Problems Connected with Questions Concerning the Production of Red and White Wines

Summary/Abstract: In his article the author sets forth certain new results of his studies on European wine-making. One cultural historical problem, as yet insufficiently elucidated, is the relationship between the colour of the wine, red or white, and the equipment used in producing it. Differences in the technological process come to the fore here, ones which do not depend on the colour of the grapes, but do define the colour and composition of the wine. This is clearly apparent in the installations for fermentation and storing. The production of red and white wine is studied on the basis of very extensive comparative material, including, on the one hand, the Balkans, the Mediterranean regions of Europe and the Caucasus, and on the other hand, the more northern European continental regions. The conclusions reached are that the regions, where the production of white wine is widespread, are more recent in time. In this respect, the Balkans appear as a region in which, since Antiquity, there existed highly developed wine production in the large farms of that period. There wine was stored in large clay jars, called pithoi, sherds of which can be found to this day. Putting forward a number of reasons, the author emphasizes that the technology and vessels for the preparation of wine in this period corresponded to the production of white wine. At a later date, when the old wine-making tradition had been interrupted by the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in the Balkans and in Bulgaria, the high standard of production fell into decary, the large farm centres were abandoned or destroyed. The production of red wine came to the fore with its characteristic lower resistance to time and different technology which led to replacing clay jars by wooden vessels. These regions lost their old wine-making culture and developed in their own way, without the use of wine presses. They produced red or black wine with open fermentation together with the marc and without storing in underground cellars.

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