Abrau-Durso

Imperial estate

The udel (crown) estate of Abrau-Durso was founded in 1870 by decree of Emperor Alexander II; the company gives the date of the decree as 25 November 1870.^2,1 From 1877 until 1898 the estate produced only still wines.² The first tirage of sparkling wines aged in the mountain tunnels appeared in 1896.²

People

The company names Prince Lev Golitsyn as the founder of sparkling wine production at Abrau-Durso, and the Soviet wine scientist Anton Frolov-Bagreev in its history.³

Tunnels and museum

The cellar complex includes five tunnels from the end of the 19th century and five kilometres of tunnels from the Soviet era.³ The museum exposition opened in 1974; the first document about a museum dates from 1927.^3,1 After the plant was acquired by the SVL group in 2006, the complex was reconstructed, and in 2010 a foundation was set up for historical and museum projects.³

Today

The Abrau-Durso group of companies sold 45.9 million bottles in 2021.² In 2025 the group harvested a record 26,667 tonnes of grapes.¹ For the wider picture of sparkling wine in the country see Russia.