In order to decorate your evening, it is enough to cut fruit, remove ice cream from the refrigerator and uncork a bottle of Kokur Dessert Sourozh wine. This drink can also be used as the basis for mulled wine or pear.
The homeland of this wine is the Crimean peninsula, so the drink sparkles with sunlight and is full of aromas of the summer sea and high mountains. Floral tones give him a special charm, and the amber-golden color plays incredibly beautifully in a glass.
Production Features
Kokur is a local grape variety that is suitable for the production of almost any wine. Both sweet fortified wines and light sparkling wines are obtained from it. Sixty percent of the Sudak Valley vineyards are occupied by this particular grape variety. "Kokur dessert Surozh" from "Massandra" is made in Sudak.
The variety itself was brought to Crimea by the Greek colonists from the island of Corfu. This variety is late, the berries finally ripen in late September - early October. His sugar content at this point is about 22 percent. For the production of "Kokura dessert Surozh" berries are collected in small boxes of 8-10 kilograms so that they do not choke. After the raw material is processed, it is sent for aging in oak barrels to the famous cellars. There it lingers for two years. By that time, the strength of the drink is sixteen percent, the same amount is sugar. After aging, "Kokur dessert Surozh" acquires a harmonious, refined and very pleasant taste.
The aroma of the drink
Exposure primarily affects the aroma. It has pronounced oak notes. Some reviews of “Kokura dessert Surozh” indicate that even in the aroma fresh pomegranate and plum are clearly audible, an orange comes in the background. You can also catch notes of hazelnut and vanilla. There is one very interesting point - if you warm the glass thoroughly in your palms, then the tones of citrus disappear.
Taste characteristics
The aroma is reflected in the taste. For example, here you can clearly hear the tones of plum and vanilla. “Kokur dessert Surozh” is sweet enough, but sugar does not drown out notes of raisins and dark chocolate. Also in the background are biscuit tones. If you warm the drink to room temperature, then not very pleasant honey notes appear, and all the fruits are lost, so it is better to serve the wine chilled.
Beverage Awards
"Kokur dessert Surozh" was presented at international exhibitions in countries such as Belgium, Hungary and Slovenia. There he was awarded gold and silver medals for quality and excellent taste characteristics. There were awards that wine received at international competitions in the homeland in Yalta. In total, the drink has ten medals.
A bit of history
“Kokur dessert Surozh” is made at the Massandra winery, which is located in Yalta. This area became the center of winemaking when Mikhail Sergeyevich Vorontsov appeared there. He planned to radically change agricultural practices. Thanks to him, the vineyard area has increased significantly.
From France and Spain, in which by that time the wine industry was at a very high level, unique vines were brought. Experienced specialists were hired in the same countries. In 1834, the Yalta Winery produced such wines as Cabernet, Riesling, Kokur and Tokai.
It's a shame that after Mikhail Sergeyevich died, his heirs did not continue his work. Already in 1889, the Vorontsov estate, together with the Massandra winery and the estate, Livadia and Ai-Danil, became the property of the imperial Specific Department.
Contribution of Prince Golitsyn
Nicholas II had warm feelings for Yalta and tried his best to develop it. Under him, agriculture flourished in this area, and winemaking reached a new level. It was Nicholas II who sent Prince Golitsyn to Massandra . Lev Sergeyevich successfully worked in the Crimea and had the title of leading winemaker of the Russian Empire.
It was with his light hand that special cellars were built in the form of tunnels for aging prepared drinks. These storages are located so that the air temperature in them is unchanged all year round and varies from 12 to 14 degrees of heat. This temperature is ideal for aging elite alcohol. It is in these basements that Kokur dessert Surozh is still aged.
In 1898, a new production was launched. By then standards, the Massandra winery was simply huge. The cellars were designed to store two hundred and fifty decaliters of wine in barrels and about a million more bottles. Already in 1900, the best samples of the enterprise went to the international exhibition in Paris.
A few months after this, Nicholas II and his wife arrived at his residence in Livadia, and Prince Golitsyn presented the Massandra wine to their court. Most of all, the emperor was impressed by Aleatico Ayu-Dag and Livadia. It was these two varieties of wine that were later delivered to the courtyard.