BRICS countries to form wine tourism association, Russia's Abrau-Durso to join

MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - The BRICS countries plan to form a wine tourism association and Russian winemaker Abrau-Durso Group might become a member, the press service of the Russian president's special envoy for relations with international organizations to achieve sustainable development goals, Boris Titov reported.

At the annual meeting of BRICS tourism ministers in Brazil, the Russian delegation tabled a proposal to form an enogastronomic, or wine and food tourism association that would strengthen cooperation between representatives of the state and private sector in winemaking.

"An excellent proposal. We put if forward back in 2024 at the third Russian Winemaking Forum on behalf of the Association of Vinegrowers and Winemakers of Russia," Titov, who owns Abrau-Durso Group, was quoted as saying in the press release.

He said winemaking creates additional opportunities to attract tourists throughout the world, and enogastronomic tourism, in turn, promotes the growth of wineries.

"This trend is also characteristic to the highest degree for modern Russia. We're seeing more and more wineries that impress not only with the high quality of their products, but also their architectural concepts, beauty and surroundings. Large wineries are transforming, and small businesses and new tourist routes are emerging," Titov said.

BRICS partners such as Brazil and South Africa have a great deal of experience in enogastronomic tourism, "so an exchange of experience will be very useful," he said.

"Some Russian winemaking companies, including Abrau-Durso, are already members of the Global Wine Tourism Organization (GWTO) and we would be happy to join the new professional association," Titov said.

Abrau-Durso is Russia's leading producer of sparkling wines and is developing a tourism business.

The issue of developing agritourism and wine tourism specifically was raised at a meeting President Vladimir Putin held with members of the Business Russia association on Tuesday.

Mantera chairman Roman Batalov proposed to the president that Russia amend land legislation to allow the construction of agritourism, including wine tourism, facilities on agricultural land, with restrictions on the size of such structures. Interest in such tourism has grown in recent years, but its development is being constrained by a large number of prohibitions, including against the construction of guesthouses and restaurants on agricultural land, he said.

Commenting on this issue at the president's request, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said there are plans to simplify the process of rezoning a portion of agricultural land to "recreational" use so that it will take six months instead of several years like it does now. The bill to make this happen has already been drafted.

The possibility of building wine tourism facilities on land suitable for vineyards, but with strict restrictions such as limits on the size of the developed area and the facilities themselves, is also being discussed. The strict restrictions in this area are due to the fact that Russia does not have much land suitable for vineyards - only 110,000 hectares with potential for expansion by 20,000-30,000 hectares, Lut said.