Recently a friend invited us to spend a weekend at a mountain hut around 70kms from Sofia. As keen hikers they had spent many nights here and enjoyed the peaceful environment and fresh air so had decided to organise a weekend getaway with friends. Not being much of a hiking / mountain enthusiast myself I was a little skeptical about the place however I was curious to go along and have a change of scenery for the weekend.
When we arrived it was late evening and the drive to the hut had taken longer than we thought – the road leading to it was incredibly steep and rocky and very dark. When we arrived the area around the house was in darkness. We stepped out of the car and noticed people sitting around picnic benches and tables with torches chatting and drinking. At the house we found our friends who were cooking on a bbq and drinking wine … we quickly dropped in our bags and joined them for a glass of the famous Trastena Raspberry Wine.
I learned that this wine was produced here by the owners of the Trastenaya Hut. They enthusiastically explained that we were in fact surrounded by fields of raspberries and that the wine is produced from 100% bio fermented raspberries.
I had never tried raspberry wine before so it was a pleasure to try it at the place where it was produced. Trastena wine is incredibly sweet and is perfect with red meat or cheeses. Since visiting the hut I have noticed that the wine is sold in many bio shops and served in many restaurants throughout Sofia. It is incredibly popular with the locals, particularly on these cold winter nights! Next time you’re having dinner be sure to check if they have it on the menu!
We spent most of the evening drinking wine and talking and went to bed in the early hours of the morning. The hut has many shared bedrooms with single beds and thick blankets and has a clean shared bathroom with two toilets on the ground floor. There is also a lounge area, beautiful garden and excellent food served. If you like hiking this will be a perfect place for a rest stop on your journey. In the morning I went for a walk and was taken aback by the incredible views. We really were surrounded by fields and fields full of raspberries!
For more information about where to buy Trastena Raspberry Wine, visit their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Trastena
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