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News
Soviet-era winery set to re-open to tourists from 2020
A winery that was once one of the largest Soviet-era wineries in south Russia is to be rebuilt as part of a two billion ruble (US$35m) investment, with plans to welcome tourists to the winery in the Black Sea resort of Anapa from 2020.
The Russian city of Anapa
The Lenin Agricultural Cooperative was once one of the largest wineries of the Soviet Union, based in the Black Sea resort town of Anapa.
Close to bankruptcy, the winery was purchased in 2016 by Ariant, one of Russia’s largest winemaking companies, which plans to reconstruct the facility and turn it into a centre of wine tourism, as reported by Russian news agency Tass.
The facility will have the capacity to produce 20 million bottles annually, with grapes sourced largely from the Russian subregion of Krasnodar, which produces more than 50% of Russia’s grapes for winemaking.
Ariant announced last month its plans to invest of 2 million rubles (US$35.5m) over three years to rebuild the winery alongside an oenology and wine tourism centre, to be launched by 2020, which will include a brand shop, a wine bar, and a mini hotel.
The new facility will allow Ariant to increase its total capacity to between 120 to 150 million bottles a year, with the company planning to plant more than 2,000 hectares of vineyards throughout the region by 2021. The first 300 hectares of vines were planted in 2016.
“We plan to release 100 million bottles in 2017,” project manage Sergei Tarakhno said, of Ariant’s total wine production. “The company’s specialisation was selected following studies of soil, climate and geographical features of the region – we can get high-quality white grape varieties here, suitable for Champagnes and sparkling wines in the premium and standard price categories.”