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The oldest Russian winery, "Abrau-Dursu" (also spelled "Abrau-Dyurso") was founded in 1870 under an imperial decree
issued by Tsar Alekander II. The winery began to prosper in 1892 when Prince L.S. Golitsyn was assigned to manage operations.
Prince Lev Golitsyn initiated the building of 5 underground cellars for the production of champagne. Under the supervision
of Frence experts, the initial producation of champagne began 1896. At that time, the output of "Abrau" champagne
was rather modest and it was supplied only to the tsarist court and the aristocracy.
By the 1920s, production of champaigne reached 36,000 bottles annually and by the 1980s, it had increased to 3 million
bottles per annum. Traditional "Abrau-Durso" champagne was exported to many countries around the world.
Today ZAO "Abrau-Durso" is a leading Russian producer of sparkling wines applying both classical bottling and reservoir
methods of champagnization. The winery owns 600 hectares of vinyards. It invests significant amount of capital to purchase
and plant new saplings. The winery employs a number of hereditary winemakers.
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