Residents of the southern regions of Russia have been quite successfully engaged in winemaking for more than one century. In the lower reaches of the Don, Dagestan and Astrakhan, grapes have been cultivated for thousands of years. The production of wine in Russia took on an industrial scale during the reign of Peter I, who ordered the laying of vineyards in the Azov region after it was captured in the Russian-Turkish war.
History and facts
By the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire produced a sufficient amount of wine on the territory of the Don, Caucasian and Astrakhan-Ural wine regions.
With the creation of the USSR, collective viticulture and socialist farms arose on the territory of these regions, and wineries were opened. The victory of the winemakers of the RSFSR was the development of sparkling wine, which received the name "Soviet Champagne". It began to be produced in the 30s of the last century at the famous Abrau-Dyurso plant in the Krasnodar Territory.
The collapse of the USSR led to a significant reduction in both the area under vineyards and the volume of wines produced in Russia. For several years, the number of hectares of vineyards has decreased by half, and for the manufacture of their products, Russian wineries began to use 70% imported raw materials.
Regions and enterprises
The largest region where grapes are grown and wines are produced in Russia is the Krasnodar Territory. The climate of the region and agricultural traditions make it possible to obtain fruits on an area equal to 60% of all vineyards in the country. Among the main zones of winemaking in the region are Taman, Azov and North Caucasian, and the main production winemaking capacities are concentrated in the companies "Abrau-Dyurso", "Kavkaz", "Kuban-wine" and "Fanagoria".
In addition to the Krasnodar Territory, grapes are grown in Russia:
- In the Stavropol region, where one seventh of the total volume of fruits in the country is harvested. The largest Stavropol wine-making enterprises are the factories "Stavropolsky", "Mashuk", "Levokumskoye".
- In Dagestan, where up to 100 thousand tons of grapes are harvested annually. Among the well-known enterprises in the region is the Derbent Sparkling Wine Factory.
- In the Rostov region, where the cultivation of grapes is fraught with particular difficulties. The local climate forces plantation workers to engage in risky sheltered viticulture, but Russian wines produced at the Tsimlyanskie Vina distillery or at the Rostov Factory of Sparkling Wines are frequent guests of any festive table.
