GHELENDZHIK, Russia, July 16 (AFP) - Russia's southern Krasnodar region is counting on women and foreign expertise to lift its vineyards to become world-class producers.
"Black eyes," "Smile," "Ghelendzhik's Alexandrite" -- these wine labels have not been widely known outside Krasnodar, which accounts for 85 percent of Russian wine production.
But local vineyard owners are hoping this will change soon, driven by an increasing demand for wine in a country generally known for its vodka consumption.
Today an average Russian drinks only six liters of wine each year, but analysts predict the wine market will increase by 12 percent per year from 2006, driven by the fairer sex.
"Women are the driving force behind this. They push Russians to opt for wine" instead of vodka and educate their palates, said Claude Brunel, a manager at Nicolas International, a French wine exporter.
Some of the Krasnodar vineyards are also turning to foreign investors to build up the industry, like the 840-hectare Myskhako vineyard that was bought by a British investor, Clive Rumens, in 2002.
"In 2002, production had hit bottom," said Oleg Lotosh, an advisor to Rumens. "Everyone was stealing, from the workers harvesting grapes to officials and no one had fertilized the vineyards for a decade."
"We invited a South African wine consultant and a French soil expert and now we have a Chardonnay that is up to European standards," Lotosh said.
Rumens sold the vineyard recently and the new owners are planning to continue the practices that he introduced. The new owners are even negotiating a deal for exporting their product to Germany.
Lotosh says that Krasnodar wines could emulate "the success story of California and South Africa," though he admits that much work still needs to be done.
But a French wine expert, who asked to remain anonymous, said that "I think that the errors of the Soviet era are going to be repeated," with producers preferring quick profits over work on quality.
For his part, Brunel does not fear Russian wines as competitors in the country's market that he considers a "new El Dorado."
"Table wines work well," though they often need sugar added to correspond to local palates. "The Bordeaux sell for a high price."
Currently the sugary wines of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia dominate Russia's import market as a group. France is the second-largest single importer, accounting for a 10-percent market share.
But this has not deterred vineyards in Krasnodar.
The Ghelendzhik vineyard, which has some 1,200 hectares under exploitation, hosts wine tastings to educate tourists about their production -- from a dry aligote to a sweet dessert wine.
"This Amber Muscat is a masterpiece, you can taste the traces of lemon, peach, apricot, honey," Anna Zhilina explains patiently to guests.
Currently, their labels are not known outside Krasnodar. But local vineyard owners are hoping that will not be the case for long.