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Distributor Penka Seibold hopes the wines of Bulgaria--her home country--will find a following in California.

Bulgarian immigrant takes a chance on native wines

By Steve Enders

When Penka Seibold came from Bulgaria to America seven years ago, she didn't know English, had about $500 to her name, thanks to a scam, and was forced to wash dishes in a "dirty restaurant" to earn tuition for her education at the University of Wisconsin.

She now has her chemical engineering degree from UC Berkeley and is serving up what she hopes will be one of the world's next great wines.

Seibold is the owner of Penka International, a wine-distribution service that is bringing some of the best wine bargains in Europe to the tables and restaurants of America.

The daughter of a Bulgarian vintner, Seibold didn't even know she had wine in her blood until recently.

After moving to Berkeley, Seibold picked up a child-care job, working for a wealthy businessman in the East Bay. She began managing the family's finances in addition to taking care of the kids.

One of the businessman's assets was a Napa winery, and Seibold became interested in the processes of making and distributing wine. She moved to Napa eventually, where she also became involved with winemaking techniques and practices.

Seibold then realized that she could distribute Bulgarian wines, which rank third in European production after the wines of France and Italy.

Seibold's challenge is to generate the same level of interest in Bulgarian wines in the United States. "Most people don't even know where Bulgaria is!" Seibold laughed. "Why would anyone want to buy wine from there?"

Bulgaria is in Central Europe, near Romania and Yugoslavia. The wine grapes are grown near central Bulgaria. Bulgarians have a heritage of winemaking and winebibbing. But the country's fondness for the drink hasn't always been positive. About 800 C.E., the first Bulgarian government tore down the country's wineries and declared that the populace had a drinking problem.

Times have changed. Last year the country exported more than 3.5 billion liters of wine--mostly throughout Europe. Bulgaria's wines are transported to the United States by ship. After passing through the Black Sea, they then take a 45-day journey through the Mediterranean Sea, across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal and up the West Coast into the Port of Oakland.

"So many people are drinking wine now. So why not try a Bulgarian wine? It's one of the least expensive."

Bulgaria, Seibold explained, is perfect for growing wine because the climate, geography and soil are very similar to those found in California and French grape-growing regions.

"The California wines are too fruity," Seibold said. "I like to have meals with my wine, and it shouldn't interfere with the food. When Europeans want fruit, they eat fruit, they don't drink wine."

Currently, Seibold distributes a merlot and a dry misket from two different Bulgarian growers. The merlot, she says, is heavier on tannins and lighter on fruitiness than its Californian counterparts. Soon, Penka International will distribute a cabernet sauvignon, a chardonnay and a sparkling wine.

Seibold has been importing and distributing wine for about seven months, she said. In that time, she's gotten Whole Foods, the Berkeley Bowl market and the Saratoga Country Club to sell the wine.

"It hurts me most when people won't even try it," she said.

Her Lyaskovetz merlot goes for $5.99, and the Bania misket for $4.99. For distribution questions, call Penka International at 253-8773.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 24, 1998.
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