Video: "Wild master" from the New World: how Prince Golitsyn conquered Paris with Crimean champagne
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
On August 24, 1845, a man was born who went down in history as the founder of champagne winemaking in Crimea, the founder of the Novy Svet winery, who proved to Europe that domestic champagne can be no worse than French. Lev Golitsyn was such an extraordinary and outstanding personality that legends circulated about him. For his cool temper and extravagant manner of dressing, the cabbies called him "the wild master". And there were grounds for this.
Prince Golitsyn was a representative of one of the most ancient noble families in Russia. He was educated at the Sorbonne and at Moscow University, where he studied law. For several years, Golitsyn headed the archaeological excavations and could have made a brilliant diplomatic and scientific career. However, his fate was abruptly changed by a meeting with Princess Zasetskaya (nee Kherkheulidze). For the sake of Golitsyn, she left her husband, they had daughters. Due to the scandal that erupted in high society, Golitsyn was forced to leave his teaching activities and go abroad.
Nadezhda's father, the mayor of Kerch, Prince Kherkheulidze, owned the estate of Novy Svet and left it as a legacy to his children. Upon returning to Russia, Golitsyn and his common-law wife settled in the Crimea. It was here that he became interested in winemaking. In 1878 Golitsyn bought the second half of the estate from his brother Zasetskaya and began to grow vineyards. And although he was not the first winemaker in Crimea (before him, wine production was carried out at the Sudak School of Winemaking and in the estates of Count Vorontsov), it is Golitsyn who is considered the ancestor of Crimean champagne winemaking.
On an area of more than 20 hectares, Golitsyn grew about 500 varieties of grapes and for 10 years conducted selection work. For the future champagne, he selected only 5 varieties, taking into account the local climatic conditions and soil characteristics. He did not recognize authorities and did not follow the recommendations of famous winemakers: “What is winemaking? This is the science of the area, - wrote Golitsyn. “The transfer of the culture of the Crimea to the Caucasus is absurd, and the transfer of the culture of some foreign area to all the vineyards of Russia is a soft-boiled cock's legs.”
In the 1890s. Prince Golitsyn laid in the monolithic rock of Koba-Kaya multi-tiered cellars for storing wines, tunnels were laid at different levels and in different directions, taking into account the temperature conditions necessary for different varieties of wine. The total length of the cellars was more than 3 km. Prince Golitsyn not only formed vineyards in the Crimea, but also paved the Novy Svet - Sudak road, a 3.2 km long water conduit, a 5 km long walking path (now it is called the Golitsyn trail), and created a park.
The results were impressive: first, the Golitsyn wines won prizes at Russian exhibitions, then they received "gold" at an exhibition in the USA, and in 1900 Golitsyn presented his Paradise champagne at the World Exhibition in Paris and unexpectedly received the Grand Prix for everyone! The unknown Crimean champagne defeated French wine and was recognized as the best in the world.
At the same time, Prince Golitsyn was not favored either in high society or in the circle of winemakers. His character was really difficult. Count Felix Yusupov recalled: “Despite his well-known nobility, he was a general thunderstorm. Being in a state of half-intoxication, he looked for any opportunity to create a scandal and, not content with being drunk himself, tried to make his entourage drink wine from his own crushers. " V. Gilyarovsky wrote: “Lev Golitsyn was also disliked in the English club for his harsh and obscene for that time (early eighties) speeches. But Lev Golitsyn was not afraid of anyone. He always walked, winter and summer, in a peasant broad beaver jacket, and his huge figure drew attention on the streets. The cabbies called him "the wild master." The Tatars in his Caucasian estate nicknamed him Aslan Delhi - "crazy lion".
By the end of his life, Golitsyn went bankrupt and was forced to donate his estate to Nicholas II with a request to create an academy of Russian winemaking here. But after the death of Golitsyn in 1915, the cellars remained empty for about 20 years, until 1936, when the Soviet government began to restore the plant and re-launched the production of New World champagne.
Before Golitsyn, foreign products dominated the Russian market. Nicole Clicquot: how an enterprising widow conquered Russia
Recommended:
How Japanese Kenzo Takada conquered Paris with robes and taught the world to wear a kimono with a kokoshnik
On October 4, 2020, designer and perfumer Kenzo Takada died from complications caused by coronavirus infection. The son of a tea house owner in Hyogo province, he revolutionized the European fashion industry by founding Kenzo, gifted mankind with sweatshirts and taught how to combine kokoshniks with kimonos
Plumbing, Civil Rights and Technology: What the World Lost When the Greeks Conquered Troy and the Aryans Conquered the Dravids
The legends of the dark times in Europe and Asia are full of admiration for lost civilizations, developed so highly that listeners of these legends could hardly believe. Much later, with scientific progress, Europeans began to treat these legends with increasing skepticism: it is clear that the world is developing from simple technologies to complex ones, where can complex technologies come from to simple ones? With the development of archeology, mankind again had to believe in lost civilizations. At least compared to the narrator
How 7 great expressionist painters conquered the world, whose works are appreciated all over the world: Munch, Kandinsky, etc
The work of expressionist artists is a mystery that is so difficult to solve, and the images they create are so multifaceted and contradictory that, looking at them, there is a place for imagination to roam. The emphasis on colors, broken lines and torn strokes is only a small part of what, from the very first seconds, attracts the viewer's attention, drawing him into the eccentric world of art, where everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance, because each painting has its own story , and each artist has his own unsurpassed
How 13 world famous models conquered the world of fashion
Their faces can be seen on the covers of glossy magazines, in commercials and on huge city banners. They are world famous models who have conquered the fashion world with their beauty. And although sometimes their appearance is far from the classical canons of beauty, but perhaps this is precisely where their unique charm lies
Kevin Richardson - the man whose love conquered wild animals
Love and care can melt any heart, and sincere warmth will never cause aggression in response. Self-taught trainer Kevin Richardson was convinced of this over the years of working with predators. A zoologist many years ago sheltered lion cubs as pets; today, a quivering and very friendly relationship has been established between animals and humans