Grape Guide: Pamid
Pamid is a red grape variety from Bulgaria. Sadly it is now virtually extinct, but it can be found in parts of the Thracian Valley (where it has been used for thousands of years) and in particular in the appellation of Haskovo PDO.
Pamid has never really been considered as a quality grape and was primarily used as a table grape because of its sweet taste. Its thin skins, low acidity and low colour have long rendered it a second glass citizen, a grape used for quantity.
During the 1960s it was widely cultivated but its popularity has declined rapidly. During the Soviet era stories of Black Pamid emerged but the likelihood is that, ever resourceful, winemakers would run the juice over the skins of Mavrud to give it more colour.
Pamid grapes are small with thin red (sometimes dark red) skins. It's a fertile grape; yields are good and it tends to ripen around mid September. Like many grape varieties that have become traditional in Bulgaria, it is able to tolerate both extremely cold temperatures and periods of drought, crucial for any variety planted in a continental climate. It is susceptible to disease.
Divas Winery are the main producers of Pamid in Bulgaria. They blend it with international varieties to make a rose and also release it as a mono-varietal red, which, due to the lack of colour looks like a dark rose.
Recommended producers: DiVas Winery
- Known as Roşioar in Romania
- Known as Plovdina in Macedonia