|
Who are We?
TEMPLE OF WINE
AND M&R-1713 LTD. HISTORY
M&R-1713 Ltd. was registered
in 1991 in Varna, Bulgaria. We wanted to create a 'Centre
of Wine' - a fine shop for alcoholic beverages where we would
display the best Bulgarian wines, which every one of the 137 wine-cellars
as well as every Bulgarian is proud of and for that purpose we
established the company. In most of the alcoholic shops
you can find very few of the Bulgarian qualitative wines, acknowledged
all over the world and the drink with which qualities our predecessors
have become famous deserves better presenting…
Neither of the two owners was a wine-specialist as to
put our idea into practice professionally we asked to relevant
specialists to help us. This gave us the chance to meet and start
working with the author of the only Wine Map in Bulgaria. We
were very happy that the person who has been to every wine-cellar
in the country and who knows closely all the wine-producers would
work with us. Of course we received an invaluable help
from the wine-producers as well as from many other specialists.
As usual there is a limited selection of wine in wine-shops
and the wines which are easy to sell predominate. The latter
definitely does not include a higher category Bulgarian wines.
The idea that the best wines are displayed, presented,
and sold in one shop, which would be a 'business card' of every
producer, was very well accepted and received a strong support.
Soon after we started carrying out repairs of the premises
where the future 'Centre of Wine' would have been - in
simmer 2001, we decided to make an attempt to dig a cellar under
it. Initially our plans were to keep the wine of the shop collection
in it. The building, where the shop is now, was build in
1905 and according to some old documents it was clear that once
there had been cellars dug into the ground only about a meter
and the rest of them had been about 1.5 m. above the level of
the adjacent terrain. In about mid 60s, when thorough repairs
were carried out these half dug into the ground rooms were removed
and instead new ones were built whose floor was level with the
adjacent terrain. We were not sure whether we would have succeeded
in building new ones under the ground and whether the foundation
of the building would have permitted us to do it. Venturing
much money we decided to try…
Our intention was, if it was possible, to build a cellar
2.5m. in depth. To do this we had to dig at least 2.8 -
3 m. under the ground. Through a small opening in the floor
we relatively easy removed the layer of old building refuse, which
filled up closely the space of 1m. between the bottom of the cellar
that once existed and the concrete flooring laid in 1960 s, which
has been the floor of the new building since. But we had
at least another 1.8 - 2 m. left in thick, compact soil. This
was the beginning of the hardest, and as it turned out later,
the most interesting part of our project…
After a few days, at about 2 m. under the ground, we found
a part of a huge, precisely cut stone-block and in a little while
the workers found another part from another block closely stuck
to the first one. The water-level put on top showed absolute
level. It was quite obvious by the size of the blocks that
they were part of a very big wall. We kept digging very
slowly, carefully and with a lot of effort. After a few
days we had a square base of an ancient building lying in front
of us. At certain points there were stones put one on top
of the other. At that stage it was evident that the wall
continues further down in the ground but it was technically impossible
to continue digging because of a risk to demolish the building.
Some parts of the wall were aside - outside the boundaries
of the cellar that we were digging.
We invited specialists from the Archaeological Museum
in Varna to examine the stones. They found that we had
the phenomenal chance to find the bedding of one of the towers
of the first fortified wall of ancient Odesos, which was built
in 365 BC! 2400 years history was lying in front of us!
It is always the same in cases like this. You do
not believe what you hear. It is difficult to describe the excitement
we felt when we found what was built by our ancestors thousands
of years ago… At the same time we realized the great responsibility
we were destined to - to keep and preserve the find for the future
generations and to show it to the present ones.
We took the find as something meant to happen, God's providence
and support in our initiative and as an omen, we decided in the
bedding of the ancient tower of Odesos to create not only a cellar
but wine-tasting room - Temple of Wine
- a place where the visitors will proudly and respectfully touch
the ancient majesty of our forefathers as well as in a unique
and authentic atmosphere will be able to sample some of the best
Bulgarian wines. As every temple and bearing in mind that
this is the only one in Bulgaria it had to have its patron. Paying
honour to Semele - the woman
who gave birth to the God of wine Dionysus we decided to name
the temple after her.
We hold wine-tasting in the Temple
of Wine, promotions of Bulgarian wine-producers, days
dedicated to particular vine-growing regions and we keep valuable
wines to age. /Some of the latter can be bought in the Centre
of Wine/. We also keep a collection of wines given to us as
present from friends. The unique and discrete setting is
the reason why we hold business meetings and private parties.
As a place where in a unique way are combined the past
millennia and the present day, which is an archaeological and
cultural sightseeing - pride for every Bulgarian, as well as a
place for tasting the best Bulgarian wines, the Temple
of Wine is often visited by guests in the city of Varna
and many foreign holidaymakers along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
A place, which is pride for both the whole team, which
took part in its creating and for every worthy Bulgarian wine-producer.
We will be very happy to meet every one of you as a valuable
guest in the temple.
 Main
|
