Filatov Wine Museum at Khovrenko Factory

Filatov Wine Museum at Khovrenko Factory

The Filatov Wine House Museum is located at the Professor Khovrenko Winery in Samarkand. The city, popular among tourists due to its famous historical sites and museums, can also surprise its guests with a special place — the museum of winemaking, opened at the factory, which is more than 150 years old.

History

During the time of the Russian Empire's takeover of Central Asia, merchants and entrepreneurs began to come to large Asian cities in order to develop their businesses in the rich and fertile sunny land. At that time, a unique grape variety was growing on the territory of modern Samarkand, in which the sugar content was about 25% (as opposed to the standard 16%).

Dmitry Filatov, a famous Russian winemaker and businessman, came to Samarkand from tsarist Russia at that time. In 1868, he built and opened a winery in the city, the first in the whole of Uzbekistan. Filatov began to produce Uzbek wines on an industrial scale and gained great popularity in the world wine market of the 19th century.

In addition to wine production, the entrepreneur was also engaged in the breeding of new grape varieties. One of the varieties he created called "biishty" (which translates from Uzbek as "paradise") even received the highest award at the Paris International Wine and Cognac Exhibition, after which Filatov's wine factory in Samarkand gained worldwide recognition and began hosting collectors from all over the world who come for unique local wine. During his work, Filatov was able to assemble a unique collection of wines. But unfortunately, during the Soviet Union, individual entrepreneurship was eradicated, and Filatov was banned from engaging in private activities, after which he hid and walled up his collection in order to keep it intact.