Rumelia Wine Cellar is a Bulgarian winery in the Thracian Valley, established in 2006 in the town of Panagyurishte. The original planting of two vineyards amounted to 54 hectares of vines around the village of Smilets, following a study for the soils, weather conditions and exposure in the Thracian Valley. While much of Rumelia's production is using international varieties that ripen well in the Thrace, such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Syrah, they also make some superb Mavrud, Bulgaria's indigenous and much-loved red variety. No herbicides or pesticides are used in the vineyard and all the grapes are harvested by hand with a quality assessment and sorting at the winery. For maturation, Rumelia use a range of French, American and Bulgarian 225L oak barriques for their wines.