«Ancient Chersonese» and «Legends of Inkerman», «Heraclea» and «Muscat Alcadar». So begins the list of the next attractions of Sevastopol. Only we will talk not about legends or battle-historical treasures of one of the most interesting resorts of the Crimean peninsula, but about its achievements in the field of winemaking. We do not forget that grape vines were the first to these lands brought Greek colonists. They sang hymns to Dionysus over them, and held bacchanals dedicated to the day of young wine, so this activity on the territory of Sevastopol City Council is as much its «business card» as fishing, super-convenient bays and heroic glory of local sailors.
The flagship of Sevastopol winemaking recognized Inkerman factory of vintage wines. This enterprise appeared in 1961, using the existing material resources of the former district Inkerman. There are grape plantations, which decorated the slopes of Ai-Petrinskaya yaila, the famous Inkerman quarries, turned by the ancient Greeks in the storage of finished products, as well as oak bottles and presses. After all, the art of making «sunny drink» appeared here much earlier than the words «industry», «tasting» or «excursion».
So, on February 1, 1961, the «Inkerman Winery» was opened. As a «labor force» here were lured by a higher salary key specialists from the winery «Massandra». Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the first products of the plant — «Rkatsiteli Inkerman» and «Cabernet Kachinskoye» in 1965 took the first prizes in their category at the International Wine Competition (there is such a thing!) in Tbilisi. Then the awards came to the plant like from a cornucopia. The appearance in 1967 of the shop for aging of strong and dessert wines only strengthened the flow of recognition poured on Inkerman.
In recent years at the «Inkerman winery» began to conduct excursions, like in «Massandra» or at the enterprise «Koktebel», the main competitors of our enterprise on the territory of the peninsula. Guests of Inkerman winery are greeted by a sundial made from the bottom of a wine barrel. Involuntarily, or maybe intentionally, they evoke in tourists’ heads thoughts that the art of winemaking is as old as the world.
In the back of the factory visitors follow the territory where huge tanks are placed. In them «rests» grape juice, brought from the surrounding state farms. It is at this time that the fermentation process begins, the speed of which depends on the ambient temperature.
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Passing the cisterns, the guests of the winery pass into one of the shops. And the shops here are not simple — they are gutters of old quarries. That is why the temperature of 14 °C and high relative humidity are naturally kept in them. In addition, the air smells of mold, which covered the ceiling and walls of the cavities. Only the smell is not musty and basement-like, but delicately invigorating, reminiscent of the aroma of the beverage being produced.
The greatest excitement of the guests is caused by the wine pipelines, wine wagons and barrels in which the wine is ripened. Each of these sights of Sevastopol contains in its belly about 27 thousand bottles of high-class Riesling, port, Muscat or Chardonnay. Hundreds of giant barrels are placed in the underground, the territory of which is equal to 5.5 hectares. Such volumes of production guarantee each guest of «Inkerman winery» a pleasant tasting and an opportunity to bring from holiday in Crimea to their relatives really a souvenir, not a banal magnet, a fake of shells or dried and varnished seahorse.