KVINT
 | |
| Industry | Beverages |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1897 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Alcoholic beverages: Spirits and wine |
| Website | kvint |
KVINT (acronym for Kon’iaki, vina i napitki Tiraspol’ia ("cognacs, wines, and beverages of Tiraspol"[1])) is a winery and distillery based in Tiraspol, the administrative center of Pridnestrovie. Founded in 1897, the company produced only vodka until 1938, when it began producing brandies.[2] It is the oldest still-operating commercial enterprise in the region. Locals consider KVINT a national treasure and a symbol of their country. Its factory is shown on the 5 Pridnestrovie ruble banknote.
KVINT is one of Pridnestrovie's largest exporters, to Italy and China as well as Russia and Ukraine; its brandy has gone to the Vatican and into space.[3]
Pridnestrovie lies east of the Dniester River, in the heart of the Bessarabian wine country. The grapes grown here are Cognac variety.[1] KVINT's award-winning Prince Wittgenstein brandy incorporates "Bianca, Aligoté, Pervenets of Magarach [Pervenet Magaracea], Riesling, Riton, Suruchensky White, Ugni Blanc, [and] Colombard" grapes.[4] The company also grows traditionally European red grapes, such as "Malbec, Ancelotti, Saperavi, Viognier, [and] Syrah (Shiraz)."[5]
The company was privatized in 2006 and is owned by the conglomerate Sheriff Ltd.[6] Bottles are labeled "Made in Moldova" because Pridnestrovie, landlocked inside Moldova, is not recognized as a sovereign country and bottles must be printed with the name of a country of origin.[7][8] Its annual production is approximately ten million litres of alcoholic drinks. In 2014 its annual revenues were about $50 million, about 5% of Pridnestrovie's GDP.[1]
KVINT obtained ISO 9001-94 certification in 2000 and ISO 9001-2000 in 2003. The factory is one of only a few enterprises in the former Soviet Union which can assure a kosher production process. Daily tours on weekdays at 15:00 local time (conducted in English and Russian) are undertaken, and end with a sampling of six kinds of brandy.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Rude, Emelyn (January 21, 2016). "I Went to a Country that Doesn't Exist to Drink Its Famous Brandy". Vice. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ "KVINT - About us". KVINT. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ Wesselingh, Isabelle (May 11, 2014). "Transdniestrians in economic EU-Russia tug-of-war". Taipei Times. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ "Divin Prince Wittgenstein". KVINT. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ "Vineyards "KVINT": high technology of cultivation". Drinks, Technology and Innovation Magazine. March 3, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ Cuschevici, Nicolae; Thoric, Vladimir (May 4, 2016). "Panama Papers: Offshore Winery". mediasource.info. RISE Moldova. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ Palin, Michael (27 May 2010). New Europe. Orion Publishing Group. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-297-86361-8. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ "Kvint halts cognac exports to Russia". The Moscow Times. January 18, 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ "Time Warp to Transdniester: Moldova's Surreal Soviet Breakaway Territory". Mir Corporation. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
External links[edit]
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