History
Around our vineyards there are many old burial mounds - burial places of nobles, military leaders of the Saka era, 2200-2700 years old. In many burial mounds, among the remains of grains and animal remains, archaeologists walked grape seeds.
Even in those ancient times, viticulture was one of the most important agricultural crops in our territory. Amphorae - clay vessels for wine, were also found in the mounds. Ancient wineries are described among the archaeological sites.
Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Jian, during his visit to Semirechye in 629, was present as a guest of the kagan at feast in the city named Suyab (southwestern part of Semirechye), drew attention to the fact that among the many dishes on the table there was also wine.
Later, during a visit to Semirechye in 1259, the ambassador of the French king and traveler Guillaume de Rubruck spoke with clear satisfaction about the good level of local winemaking: “... I saw many vines there [in Semirechye] and drank wine twice,” Rubruk wrote in his the book "Travel to Eastern Countries".
UNIQUE REVIVAL
A new revival of the industry came in the 50s and 70s of the 20th century. Soviet agronomists made great efforts to develop viticulture. On experimental plots in different regions of Kazakhstan, up to 500 different grape varieties were planted in order to determine which varieties give the best quality harvest on a particular terroir.
For our zone, the most favorable varieties were determined: Saperavi, Rkatsiteli, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, Kuldzhinsky, Iliysky, etc.
The years of perestroika caused enormous damage to viticulture right up to the beginning of 2007.
Arba Wine, starting its project in 2006, cut down and uprooted wild trees and bushes, weeded them, watered them, put new trellises, pulled wires and lifted them from the ground. Today they give a fantastic quality harvest from which the already famous Arba Wine wines are obtained.
The old vineyards, which are now 40 years old, have become our specialty and the wine from these vineyards turns out to be unique ..
