Decanter World Wine AwardsAbrau-Durso to release still wine
- Monday 23 April 2012
Abrau-Durso, owned by former petrochemicals trader Boris Titov, was founded in 1870 and has historically only produced sparkling wine, supplying the Russian Imperial Court in the 19th century.
In July 2011 the winery's parent company Solvalub purchased a 60-hectare estate in the town of Gelendzhik, located in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia.
These vineyards, which are planted to 28 different grape varieties, will form the basis of Abrau-Durso’s still wine production.
Company director Pavel Titov, Boris’s son, said their decision to produce still wine was motivated by the 'unprecedented' popularity and rising sales of the Abrau Durso brand in Russia.
'We initially plan to release a selection of varietal wines - Abrau Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc – hopefully at the end of 2012', he told Decanter.com.
'Considering the strength of our brand, we are confident they will prove popular with Russian consumers', he added.
The group will use existing consultant oenologist Hervé Jestin from Champagne, in conjunction with local winemakers, to handle its first commercial vintages.
'We hope to achieve an eventual production of 500,000 bottles per annum, although we will start with smaller volumes exclusively in the Russian market', Titov said.
Abrau-Durso has said it eventually aims to sell into Europe and Asia, should the new brand prove successful in Russia.
Read more about winemaking in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) coutries in the June issue of Decanter, out on 2 May
Have your say!
Gabriel Kollár
January 15 23:36
FYI: There is even older producer of sparkling wine in EU.
It is in Slovakia and the winery name is HUBERT founded in 1825.
It was the first company that produced sparkling wine in Méthode Traditionell after Champagne.
Bisso Atanassov
April 23 15:50
According to open sources Abrau-Durso has imported 4,322,720 l of bulk wine for the first 9 months of 2010 which under current regulations is labeled as "made in Russia" (i.e. Russian wine). A-D doesn't mention the provenance of the wine on their labels. I wouldn't bet that all their still wine that will flood the market will be exclusively made from their own grapes.