It is impossible to tell the story of «Solnechnaya Dolina» and not to mention Prince Golitsyn — because it was he who at one time realized that this land was simply created for growing varietal grapes. Having persuaded Prince Gorchakov to buy the Tokluk estate (which at that time was located on the territory of the Sun Valley), Golitsyn became its manager and went into winemaking. By the way, its official owner — Gorchakov — was not aware of what was going on. He did not even suspect that wine cellars were being built and vineyards planted on the shore of the Black Sea instead of the palace. Therefore, after a while, having seen the result of Golitsyn’s many years of work, he considered himself deceived and dismissed him. Gorchakov would probably have been surprised to learn that Golitsyn’s «rash» decision would result in an entire wine industry, which would glorify Crimea along with its beautiful landscapes and favorable climate.
This short story will be considered as the beginning of the history of Solar Valley winery.
Geographically PJSC «Solnechnaya Dolina» is located in a unique microzone near the town of Sudak in three settlements at once. The management of the enterprise is located in the village Solnechnaya Dolina, the plant of aging vintage wines and bottling «Archaderesse» — in the village Bogatovka, and the plant of primary winemaking — in the village Pribrezhnoye.
Sun Valley is one of the sunniest places in the south-eastern Crimea: the average number of clear days here is more than in Yalta or Sudak (on average — about 300 a year). And thanks to the ring of mountains surrounding the valley, there is a constant climate, much like a desert — dry hot summers with almost no precipitation (they fall 200 mm a year). All these factors create ideal conditions for growing grapes, which are later used to produce fine wine under the trademark «Solnechnaya Dolina».
In the production of wines we adhere to both traditional and innovative approaches. That is, while adhering to the traditional recipe, we use modern technologies in production and constantly improve the packaging.
The fame of «Sunny Valley», of course, brought such legendary wines as «Black Doctor», «Sunny Valley», «Black Colonel», «Golden Fortune «Archaderesse»» — are exclusive «flavor legends» from the vintage Arhaderesse wine cellars. But, besides producing classic wines, we are also constantly working on the creation of new brands — some of them have already been highly appreciated by both customers and tasters at winemaking competitions. In total, our wines have been awarded 82 gold, 24 silver medals and 5 Grand Prix cups at international competitions, exhibitions and tastings. At the prestigious Ukrainian competition «100 Best Goods» Sunny Valley wines are always finalists and winners.
The success of «Solnechnaya Dolina» is determined not only by the location of the enterprise and technologies involved (all our plants are equipped with oak containers, at the primary winemaking plant there is modern high-tech equipment of the company «PADOVAN»).
The fundamental argument for the high quality of our products is also the level of qualification of our employees, each of whom is a professional. Our main specialists have working experience of 15-20 and more years, and all young employees have the opportunity to regularly improve their qualification in Crimean universities (including the world-famous institute «Magarach»).
Winemaking is not everything for us. We want to be involved in the birth of Ukrainian wine culture as such. That is why we organize excursions and tastings at our enterprise. Our specialists will gladly show you modern and ancient wine storages, introduce you to the organization of wine production, tell you about the variety of cultivated indigenous varieties of the Sun Valley. In the tasting room you will discover wine secrets and subtleties, learn to distinguish quality wines from low-quality and adulterated wines.
After that, we hope you will appreciate the wines of Sun Valley, to which the sun has given its warmth and we have given our soul.