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Abrau-Durso is a famous Russian wine brand, known primarily for its sparkling drinks, but it also produces still wines. I am always interested in tasting Russian wines from the same producer and discover, how they develop (in terms of maturation in the bottle and improvement of the vinfication technologies used), and I even taste some cuvées every year. One of these wines is the sparkling wine Abrau-Durso Brut d’Or Blanc de Blancs.
A brief introduction to the Abrau-Durso Winery
Among the brands produced by the company, the most famous is, of course, the sparkling wine “Abrau-Durso” (besides which the group also includes, for example, “Vedernikov Winery” and “Abrau Estates”).
The Abrau-Durso winery was founded more than 150 years ago, in 1870, by personal order of Emperor Alexander II. It received its name from the names of the Durso River and Lake Abrau, which gave the winery not only its name, but also a microclimate favorable for growing grapes. A year later, the first agronomist of Abrau-Durso went to Europe to purchase grape vines. In Johannisberg, Austria, 10,000 vines of the Riesling and Portugieser varieties were purchased, and at the same time, vines of the Pinot Blanc, Aligoté, Sauvignon and Cabernet varieties were brought from Livadia, Crimea. The first harvest and the first wines were obtained already in 1877. In 1884 and 1887, Abrau-Durso wines were highly appreciated by experts and awarded gold medals for their quality. From 1891 to 1891, by order of Emperor Alexander III, Prince Lev Sergeevich Golitsyn, the founder of winemaking in Crimea and the production of sparkling wines in Abrau-Durso, became the chief winemaker of Abrau-Durso, and during the time that he held this position, Abrau-Durso wine not only continued to be recognized by Russian experts, but also was allowed to have the coat of arms of the Russian Empire ont its label and the title of appanage champagne. In the 1900s, the winery was expanded, the building that was constructed, became its symbol, a cellar for aging also was built. In 1905, Frenchman Victor Dravigny (in whose honor one of the series of sparkling wines of the company is named) was invited to Abrau-Durso. He worked on improving the application of the traditional method in the production of sparkling wines of Abrau-Durso. During his work at the winery (until 1919), Victor Dravigny was awarded by Emperor Nicholas II, and the wines of the estate were served at official receptions at the imperial court.
After the Revolution of 1917, the winery was nationalized, but in 1920 the Soviet estate “Abrau-Durso” was created, which became a major research center and the only estate in the USSR at that time producing sparkling wines using traditional method.
During the Second World War, the estate was destroyed, but was restored by 1950 thanks to an important reconstruction plan. And by 1975, the brand “Soviet Champagne”, “Советское Шампанское”, produced at the plant, was exported to America, Brazil, Italy and other countries under the brand “Nazdorovya”. By the 1980s, the vineyard area was over 1,000 hectares, and the production volume was about 3 million bottles per year, however, over the next 20 years, more than half of the vineyards were lost, and the estate almost disappeared.
In 2006, Abrau-Durso was acquired by the SVL group under the leadership of B. Yu. Titov, who, wanting to preserve the historical traditions of Russian winemaking, began to revive the estate. And already in 2010, the estate’s sparkling wines were awarded medals at the International Wine & Spirit Competition – 2010 (IWSC) in London, and in 2011 the House became the supplier of sparkling wines for the 2014 Olympic Games. In 2018, the premium line of still wines also received recognition from experts. By 2020, Abrau-Durso wines received 31 medals at international competitions and were exported to 20 countries.
Terroir of Abrau-Durso
The terroir of the estate combines several features, important to create high-quality wine:
- The mountain winds of the Abrau-Durso Valley in the foothills of the Navagir ridge not only contribute to the difference in day and night temperatures necessary for the slow ripening of grapes and the accumulation of complex aromas, but also bring a variety of aromatic components (floral, herbal, mineral and salty) from the steppes, lakes and the sea.
- The soils, rocky and calcareous, combine two properties favorable for the vineyard – the ability to heat up during the day and distribute heat at night, maintaining the temperature and thereby prolonging the ripening period of the grapes, as well as a composition, rich in minerals (since these soils of sedimentary origin are the former bottom of an ancient ocean), which gives the wine an expressive minerality.
- The proximity of the sea and the advantageous exposure to the sun, the vineyards are located in an amphitheater on the hills of the North Caucasus Nature Reserve and are blown by sea breezes, which brings coolness at night and sufficient sunlight during the day, ensuring optimal ripening of the berries.
Tasting: Abrau-Durso Brut d’Or Blanc de Blancs 2020
The sparkling wines of the Brut d’Or series are made from selected grapes obtained from the best sites, and are produced using the traditional method of second fermentation in the bottle, then aged on the lees for up to three years.
Brut d’Or Blanc de Blancs is a 100% Chardonnay that reflects the terroir, the typical nuances of the variety and the long aging.
Color: pale gold
Nose: refined and multifaceted, with citrus notes that appear first (lemon, orange zest, bitterness of grapefruit), a bouquet of white flowers, sweet notes of stone fruits (yellow peach, apricot), as well as light notes of aging (butter, roasted hazelnut, vanilla) and minerality.
Palate: bright, straight, citrusy, with a slight bitterness of grapefruit, lime, tanginess of fresh apricot, linden and apple blossoms, as well as notes of vanilla and hazelnut and a mineral hint of limestone.
General impression and quality assessment: good wine, refreshing, pleasant, with refined minerality and some complexity.
What to pair with: noble white fish (sturgeon, turbot), langouste
Historical information taken from the site https://www.abraudurso.ru/
