“Samarkand, Bukhara and other magnificent cities are places decorated with gardens and vineyards!” Even Marco Polo seems to concur with me as I traverse the largest and richest republic in Central Asia — Uzbekistan. As my train from the capital Tashkent to the historic city of Samarkand passes through the lush, vineyard-rich countryside (currently Uzbek vineyards total 1,27,000 hectares), I’m reminded of what the 13th-century Venetian explorer had to say about this part of the world. All this, as I try to put a lid on my wide-eyed surprise. I mean, who has ever heard ‘Uzbekistan’ and ‘wine’ strung together in the same sentence?

History in a bottle

While the Romans who — thanks to the Silk Road — may have introduced wine in Uzbekistan, it was the Russian settlers who first commercialised winemaking here in the 1860s. In fact, I later learn that a few wines even won prizes at international competitions in Paris and Antwerp in that era.

As a result of this, the number of wineries in Uzbekistan continued to grow as it amalgamated into the Soviet Union in 1924. Sweeter, indigenous varietals such as Bayan Shirei and Kuldginskii led many Uzbek vintners to specialise in dessert and semisweet wines — the once-renowned Gulyakandozes, Shirins, Aleaticos and Farkhods, for example.

However, lack of both innovation and quality in Uzbekistan’s wine industry caused it to stagnate in the later part of the 20th century, when the low-priced, fortified wines were consumed in only the Soviet Union and rarely exported. The final nail in the coffin came during Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1985-88 campaign to combat alcoholism, which all but decimated Uzbekistan’s wine industry.

Through it all

Though the casualties may have been several, one winery that survived it all is the Samarkand-based Khovrenko, which has been in continuous business since its founding in 1868 by a Russian merchant named Dmitry Filatov. I find myself in its well-appointed winemaking museum in Samarkand’s historic Jewish quarter, after getting lost a number of times due to a faulty direction app. I’m here for the one-hour wine tour, which set me back by 50,000 Som (around ₹1,000).

 

 

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As I’m the only guest, my guide Abdulaziz Yo’ldoshev lavishes attention on me as he takes me through the mahogany-lined main hall’s exhibits. “It was only in 1927 that true fame came to the winery when Russian scientist, winemaker and chemist Michael Khovrenko joined it, eventually buying it off from the earlier owners,” Yo’ldoshev says. “It was he who designed the technical methods for producing such vintage wines as Gulyakandoz, Shirin and Liquor Kaberne — three of our most successful ones.”

I am then led to the winery’s 100-year-old cellar, called the “library”. Here, narrow passageways run among the shelves, on which are arranged — much like books — bottles of wine covered with a thick coat of dust. It is here that I enjoy my sampling of everything from the 10-year aged, amber-hued Filatov cognac to the cloyingly sweet, but delicious USSR-style Kargof dessert wine — a blend of Georgian and Cabernet grape varietals.

 

The others…

As I was soon to learn, while making my way back to Tashkent a few days later, it’s not just the aromatic and sweet Soviet-period wines that are in demand today. On the road to Ferghana, some 100 km from Tashkent and at an altitude of 1,600m, the Hamkor Vineyard at Parkent is known to craft wines that have a distinctive European profile. Dedicated mainly to exports, the vineyard, with an unmistakable Francophile hangover (pun unintended!), created brands such as Champs Elysées, Joséphine, Louvre and Monte Cristo, which, I’m told, are wildly popular in Japan, China and neighbouring Kazakhstan.

Started in 1993, the Tashkent-based Mehnat Group crafts dry wines made with both French grape varietals — Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon — and local Uzbek ones (Saperavi and Hindogni) for the red wines, and with Riesling and Rkatsiteli for the whites. It currently exports 20 per cent of its output to Russia, Kazakhstan and other republics of Central Asia, besides catering to the burgeoning local demand.

Interestingly, during my stay in Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that, as a result of his October 2018 trip to France, 60,000 French grape varietal cuttings — including Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Sauvignon — were being delivered to produce high-quality Uzbek wines. All this, in an attempt to boost Uzbekistan’s moribund wine industry, along with imminent plans for an annual international wine festival — a historic first in any predominantly Muslim country.

Well, the trip’s surprises never seem to end for me!

Raul Dias is a lifestyle and travel writer based in Mumbai