The Bely Cape wine town in Gelendzhik is becoming a new center for the development of the industry

Gelendzhik has a new symbol of southern Russia — the Bely Cape wine city. Its main gem is the Lev Golitsyn Wine Museum, which is called the father of the domestic production of this noble drink. Unique exhibits, rare documents, as well as the history of an entire industry that is experiencing a rebirth today. Izvestia correspondent Viktor Sineok told more about the new tourist attraction center.

The Bely Cape wine town in Gelendzhik has nothing to compare it with — there is simply no such thing in Russia. A new point of attraction on the map, a new symbol of the revival of the country's winemaking. More than four hectares, 28 locations, a capacity of 5,000 guests, restaurants, recreation areas. The large-scale and ambitious project was implemented in just five years.

The key moment was to open a monument to Lev Golitsyn, the founder of industrial winemaking in Russia, entrusted to industry veterans. The bronze sculpture is located in the hall, on the walls of which are excerpts from the speech of the prince at the congress of winemakers. The installation is called "Golitsyn's Tablets".

"These sayings are not just familiar to me — many of them are my motto in this life, and many of them are just interesting to reread and understand more deeply our brilliant founder Lev Sergeevich," said Alexey Pugachev, Deputy General Director for Development of JSC My Wine.

Golitsyn also welcomes guests in the atrium with an 18 m high sculpture. The Lev Golitsyn Wine Museum is the heart of the wine city, with a huge exposition on three levels.

"The replica of the New World Gate is so accurate that the Crimean stone was brought here specifically from the peninsula. And here is a collection of tasting glasses. Lev Golitsyn believed that wine should be drunk only from very beautiful dishes," the correspondent noted.

There is a hall with a story about Golitsyn's life and his personal belongings. Below is an exposition about the history of the country's winemaking. Good and difficult times. One of the stands is dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. 1941, the evacuation of collectible wines from the Crimea. Bottle No. 512 is one of them. In 1945, our wine was also on the table at the Yalta Conference.

The museum presents all the stages of the 150-year history of Russian industrial winemaking from its inception to the present day. It is also described in detail about the Soviet period.

"An important stage in the history of Russian winemaking is the Soviet feast. One of the main attributes is the TV, especially in the era of the late USSR, of course, the best service and champagne on the table. The recipe for "Soviet champagne" was approved back in the late 30s," the correspondent said.

Until a few years ago, winemaking in Russia was going through difficult times. After Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign came the collapse of the USSR. The period up to 2019 can be considered a gradual loss of sovereignty in winemaking. Everything was changed by the 468-FZ adopted in December. Russia has regained the independence of the industry. The opening of the Bely Cape wine town is a symbol of this renaissance.

"The proof that we have our industry is our shelf, where Russian wines are currently represented. If you remember earlier, you can see anything but our Russian wines. The situation has changed a lot now," said Dmitry Patrushev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

If there is no sovereignty, there are no projects of this scale. The Bely Mys wine city was created, among other things, so that people would remember their history, traditions, names and love their wine.

"Our task is to make people fall in love with wine, so that even those who have never looked at wine can get into this atmosphere, this service, this environment, this architecture, this music... I couldn't help but be interested," said Dmitry Levitsky, entrepreneur, restaurateur, project manager and co—author.

The Bely Mys wine city is a center of Russian winemaking with a unique structure. It has its own enoteca: three floors and everything you need to get acquainted with Russian wine and its special aesthetics.

"This is the most complete collection of Russian wine. And the point here is not the number of bottles, but the fact that the entire geography is represented — every corner of the country where production is established, even if it is small. But you can only get to these shelves after a blind tasting," the correspondent said.

Projects of this scale could not have been imagined even a few years ago. Foreign manufacturers felt the best in our market. Now we can talk endlessly about the history, tastes and geography of Russian wine.

This is another landmark project that appeared in Gelendzhik. The city's infrastructure is developing rapidly. Gelendzhik Marina— the largest yacht parking complex in Russia, located in the bay of the city, is under construction. It can accommodate three hundred vessels of different sizes.

And now you can fly here from different cities of Russia.: Tyumen, Surgut, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Moscow, Samara, St. Petersburg. Ufa, Norilsk, and Krasnoyarsk will be added soon. A modern, ultra-comfortable, ultra-sophisticated airport: its "floating" roof weighing a thousand tons does not press on the facade, but rests on 13 columns, and can withstand an earthquake of up to 8 points.

Large-scale projects do not appear if there are no prerequisites. Bely Mys is a logical consequence of the state of the industry and the attitude towards winemaking in Russia. Now it is a powerful driver of the country's economy, which does not depend on sanctions or external influence.

Recreation, festivals, gastronomy, and art are harmoniously intertwined here. Now it has its own theater: in the event hall of the wine city, you can see the projects of the famous Leningrad Center. Bely Mys is a showcase of Russian winemaking, a new business cluster and a new cultural code of Southern Russia.

"1800 different names are presented... exclusively Russian wine. This is also a matter of pride, because six years ago and even five more, we could not even dream about it, we did not even think about it," said Veniamin Kondratiev, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory.

Now our country sets trends in winemaking and is engaged in the production of its own wine — world-class wine. It is literally a new era, and the White Cape wine city is its symbol. It is a symbol of the revival of the industry and the fact that we are able to defend our sovereignty.

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