In a bold statement about its wine ambitions, on 13 June, Russia inaugurated Bely Mys – a 42,000 sq m wine complex on the seafront embankment of the Black Sea resort city of Gelendzhik, already being dubbed ‘Putin’s wine Disneyland’, according to The Insider.
The complex is home to the Lev Golitsyn Wine Museum, an enoteca carrying the largest collection of Russian wines, more than a dozen restaurants, event venues, a five-screen cinema, a wine academy, a testing and laboratory centre, tasting rooms, a registry office with panoramic views, and a yacht dock.
One of the project’s principal investors is Bank Rossiya, owned by businessman Yuri Kovalchuk. Its stated mission is to promote domestic winemaking and cultivate a new generation of wine-curious Russian consumers.
Dmitry Levitsky, restaurateur and co-director of the project, said the team’s priority was accessibility over academia. “Our mission is to make people fall in love with wine – and through that, to motivate them to explore its nuances, flavours, and the technology of winemaking,” he said. “We created an atmosphere in which they feel good and comfortable. And part of that enjoyment is a glass of fine wine.”
Bely Mys is the largest but not the only wine destination currently under development in Russia. A second complex is under construction at the Krinitsa winery, also near Gelendzhik, with an estimated value of 27 billion rubles (£273.8m) – making it the most expensive winery project in the country.
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