From Russia with wine…
In Russia, wild grape vines have grown around the Caspian, Black, and Azov seas for thousands of years with evidence of viticulture and cultivation for trade with the Ancient Greeks found along the shores of the Black Sea at Phanagoria and Gorgippia. It is claimed that the Black Sea area is the world’s oldest wine region. Additionally, the founder of modern commercial wine-making in Russia was Prince Lev Golitsyn (1845–1915), who established the first Russian factory of champagne wines at his Crimean estate of Novyi Svet. In 1889 the production of this winery won the Gold Medal at the Paris exhibition.
Wine unites us, indeed.
With knowledge, we stop being consumers and start being connoisseurs.
