Yasen Zahariev is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at New Bulgarian University. Between 1999 and 2005, he worked as a winemaker in California and Australia. For more than 20 years, he has studied the geography, philosophy and culture of wine. He is the author of dozens of popular and academic articles exploring wine and its relationship with philosophy and aesthetics. A wine taster and judge on various tasting panels and at competitions, Yasen has been part of the team around Emil Koralov since before the establishment of DiVino.

The invisible cultural and philosophical aspect of wine in the age of AI

Wine has accompanied human societies for millennia. It has been woven into cultural traditions, rituals, art, stories and human relationships. It has become part of collective memory, community identity and the ways in which people experience belonging to a place and a culture.

What makes wine such an enduring and meaningful cultural phenomenon? Why do we continue to attach value to it beyond its material qualities? What human needs does it fulfil, and how might its role evolve in a world where technology increasingly mediates our decisions, communication and relationships?

This discussion will explore wine through the philosophical dimensions of culture, memory, identity, communication and human choice. It will raise questions about authenticity, the significance of rituals and face-to-face encounters, and the preservation and reinterpretation of traditions amid technological change.

Conceived as an open philosophical dialogue, the panel welcomes differing and potentially conflicting perspectives. Its purpose is to broaden our understanding of wine’s future and to explore which aspects of human culture and our relationships with one another are worth preserving.