Grape growing and wine production have a long history in Bulgaria, dating back to the times of the Thracians. There is evidence of Bulgarian winemaking since 4000 B.C. Wine is, together with beer and grape rakia, among the most popular alcoholic beverages in the country.
The Struma or Strymonas (Bulgarian: Струма, romanized: Struma, pronounced[ˈstrumɐ]; Greek: Στρυμόνας, romanized: Strymónas, pronounced[striˈmonas]) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymon (Greek: Στρυμών, romanized: Strymṓn, pronounced[stryˈmɔːn]). Its drainage area is 17,330 km (6,690 sq mi), of which 8,670 km (3,350 sq mi) in Bulgaria, 6,295 km (2,431 sq mi) in Greece and the remaining 2,365 km (913 sq mi) in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source from the Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria, runs first westward, then southward, forming a number of gorges, enters Greece near the village of Promachonas in eastern Macedonia. In Greece it is the main waterway feeding and exiting from Lake Kerkini, a significant centre for migratory wildfowl. Also in Greece, the river entirely flows in the Serres regional unit into the Strymonian Gulf in Aegean Sea, near Amphipolis. The river's length is 415 kilometres (258 miles) (of which 290 kilometres (180 mi) in Bulgaria, making it the country's fifth-longest and one of the longest rivers that run solely in the interior of the Balkans.
Vidin (Bulgarian: Видин, pronounced[ˈvidin]) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since 870).
An industrial, agricultural, and trade centre, Vidin has a fertile hinterland renowned for its wines.