Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan will grant a quality certification of wine products without any need to send wine abroad for verification.

The Center of Expertise of Consumer Goods under the Economy Ministry received a certificate of conformity of methods for analyzing wine products to international standards.

Previously examination of this alcohol beverage cost a lot of money to the country.

Director of the Center Fazil Mammadov speaking at the event dedicated to the occasion said that as many as 850 euro was spent for the examination of the wine in France. But now the similar check will cost only 256 manat ($151) in Azerbaijan.

“From now on Azerbaijani quality certificates will be recognized in the world and the results of analysis will be justified,” Mammadov said.

Azerbaijan, the country with traditionally widely developed vine-growing, may just earn the moniker of the Land of Wine. Today, Azerbaijani wines are exported to the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, Baltic States, Belarus, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Poland and some other European countries.

Among the grape sorts used to produce Azerbaijani wine are Pinot Noir, Rkatsiteli, Pinot Blanc, Aligote, Matrassa, Podarok Magaracha, Pervenets Magaracha, Ranni Magaracha, Doina, Viorica, and Kishmish Moldavski.

Grapes grown in Azerbaijan were repeatedly recognized as the best in the South Caucasus. Recently national wine "Caspian waves" was recognized the best at an international festival in the Japanese capital of Tokyo.

Azerbaijan became a member of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine in June 2014. The country has focused since then on the development of vines and wineries as important contributors to the economy and agriculture.

Wine-making has switched to a new level of development in Azerbaijan due to programs implemented in the country. At present, Azerbaijan produces 20 million bottles of wine per year, while the annual production capacity of the country’s wineries is 100 million bottles.

Overall, the wine export of Azerbaijan hit $3.5 million in 2016.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz