The settlement was founded on November 25, 1870 as a royal winery which was to provide wine for the
Tsar's household. These plans were brought to fruition twenty-one years later, when Prince
Lev Golitsyn, renowned for his Crimean vineyards of
Massandra and
Novy Svet, was appointed Surveyor of Imperial Vineyards at Abrau-Dyurso. It was he who brought to Russia a team of skilled winemakers from France.[6] By 1897, Abrau-Dyurso boasted champagne cellars containing in excess of 13,000 bottles.
The
Russian Revolution of 1917 brought an end to Abrau-Dyurso's prosperity, if only for a short time. The French specialists fled Russia, but their work was continued by their Russian apprentices. Throughout the Soviet period, Abrau-Dyurso was reputed for its sparkling wine, which was marketed under the name of
Sovetskoye Shampanskoye ("Soviet Champagne").
Economy
Abrau-Dyurso is the center of Russia's most important wine-growing region.
In August 2002, the local
earth dam located upstream of the Dyurso River collapsed, washing away some of the grape fields in the Dyurso Valley and killing 2 people.[7]
As of 2005, the local winery,
Abrau-Durso, produced 5,800,000 bottles of sparkling wine. There is a museum of sparkling wines on its grounds.
References
^Resolution #2741-P of the Legislative Assembly of Krasnodar Krai of December 19, 2006 On Establishing the Borders of the City of Novorossiysk of Krasnodar Krai and of the Administrative-Territorial Units Under Its Jurisdiction. Items 4.8 (Abrau-Dyurso) and 4.10 (Dyurso). (Постановление Законодательного Собрания Краснодарского края от 19 декабря 2006 г. № 2741-П "Об установлении границ города Новороссийск Краснодарского края и подчинённых ему административно-территориальных единиц". Пп. 4.8 (Абрау-Дюрсо) и 4.10 (Дюрсо).)