Azerbaijan Wine

Azerbaijani wine is produced in several regions throughout Azerbaijan. Prior to 20 century communist rule, Azerbaijan had a thriving wine industry that dated back to the second millennium BC. Azerbaijan’s long history of wine production was rediscovered at archaeological digs of settlements in Kultepe, Qarabağlar and Galajig where archaeologists discovered stone fermentation and storage vessels that included residue and grape seeds dating back to the second millennium BC. The Ancient Greeks were well aware of wine production in the area by at least the 7″ century BC according to Herodotus. Later Strabo would comment in the 1st century BC about an Azerbaijani wine known as Albania. Arabic historians and geographers-most notably Abu’l-Fida, Al-Masudi, Ibn Hawqal and Al-Muqaddasi – described the extensive viticulture around Ganja and Barda that was taking place even after Islamic conquest of the area. Since the fall of Communism and the restoration of Azerbaijani independence, ardent attempts have been made to revive and modernize the Azerbaijani wine industry. Today vineyards are found in the foothills of Caucasus Mountains as well and the Kur-Araz lowlands near the Kura River. In the 21″ century, Among the grape varieties used to produce Azerbaijani wine include Pinot noir, Rkatsiteli, Pinot blanc, Aligote, Matrassa, Podarok Magaracha,Pervenets Magaracha, Ranni Magaracha, Doina,Viorica and Kishmish Moldavski. Local grape varieties indigenous to Azerbaijan include White Shani, Derbendi, Nail, Bayanshire, Gamashara,Ganja Pink, Bendi, Madrasa, Black Shani, Arna-Grna, Zeynabi, Misgali, Khindogni, Agdam Kechiemdzhei, Tebrizi, and Marandi. Azerbaijan is one of the main wine producers in the Caspian Sea region. Contemporary wine-making was ambitiously developed during the 1970s by Soviet authorities who preferred to increase the wine production versus development of the