Winemakers’ rules: Arba Wine – for AlmaU students!

December 4 of 2015 in frames of introduction of practical course sommelier on the RHB specialty (Restaurant and Hotel Business) in Almaty Management Univeristy (earlier IAB) held trip of university’s students to vineyards and wine factory of ArbaWine company. 

This was the first meeting in frames of course both for AlmaU and Arba Wine – earlier company didn’t conduct such type of excursions for students. In accordance with educational policy of AlmaU, practical courses of the university suppose trips to the best native companies, trainings from the leading specialists, familiarization with advanced technologies of production.

The total number of students visited this excursion is 100. First of all, guys headed by AlmaU’s teachers Inara Kim and Anastasiya Naumetskaya visited “old” vineyard of Arba Wine, which is situated in the locality Karakemer, not far from Assy valley. They witnessed large-scale fields (150 hectares) and closed for the winter period vines with remained berry clusters.

Assem Tusupbayeva, director for development of the company, told students the history of this vineyard: it is called “old” because in Soviet time here were located vineyards of state farm Plodovik. And started in 1985 Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign turned into a tragedy and for indigenous viticulture: all the vines were cut down.

And only after 25 years Arba Wine, which already started creating new vineyards not far from this place, started recovering old fields – by advice of famous sommeliers Mario Friggoni and Donato Lanatti. As experts determined, the quality of grapes, which has been cared by nobody for the last 25 years, seems to be really high.

Guys learned lots of new information about diverse sorts of grapes: Rkatsiteli, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Saperavi, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and many other. Now students of AlmaU know how consuming and difficult the work of Kazakhstani wine makers from Arba Wines is. As it turned out, the process of wine producing itself exactly in Kazakhstan differs from the same process in Europe. Kazakhstan wine makers contribute much more efforts. However, the result worth it: today wines from the RK are not inferior in quality to those in Europe and possibly somewhere exceed them. The reason are amazing, if specially selected for viticulture, natural conditions – awesome soil: vineyard is in the place, where Turgen river bed was supposed to be. Very Continental climate contribute to the fact that all the harmers who are potentially dangerous for the vine die in the soil during winter. Fresh dry wind from Assy valley deletes surpluses of moisture, which is dangerous for fruits. It should be noticed that the company uses only organics and no chemicals when fertilizing fields.

After the vineyard AlmaU students visited wine factory Arba Wine and saw the winery themselves, which is according to words of Assem Tusupbayeva unique all around the CIS countries in terms of exterior, quality of equipment and purity.

As the chief engineer-mechanic of the factory Igor Chetverikov told students, practically all the equipment on the factory, including bottles, barrels for storage, wine bungs and labels are mainly from Italy and also France and other European countries. Igor explained that this is not whim, this is company’s necessity: “Unfortunately, we don’t use anything native or even Russian, because these products still don’t reach the quality we wish, the quality we need. For instance, the thickness of Russian wine bottle can vary from 1 to 5 mm. We keep our wines during 3-4 years lying on each other. If the glass can’t stand it and burst, we will lose a lot.

Igor also told students about how grape is received and converted, what is the difference between conversion of white sorts and red sorts, what types of tree are needed in order to make barrel for wine and many other secrets of wine making.

At the end of excursion, guys tasted 4 sorts of wine: Riesling, Rkatsiteli, Kyzyl Bastau (mix of two sorts: Saperavi and Pinot Noir) and Saperavi. Then hosts fed guests with delicious pilaf with baursaks and tea – students were satisfied with refreshments and also with all seen and heard.

According to the words of Assem Tusupbayeva, visitation of vineyards and wineries of Arba Wine by the students of one of the best universities of the country also fits in with the strategy of company’s social responsibility: “The goal of the trip – to show the real modern production. Students are really needed this: they will have to work in the sphere of public catering, wine, they will face it. We want them to know where all is made in the best European traditions”.

AlmaU students after the excursion noted that it was a pleasure for them to learn something new about the job which is carried out in Kazakhstan on recovering of old vineyards. “We are proud of the fact that there is a company in our country which produces the wine of the world quality”, - confessed guys.