(TMT) - While most foreigners associate Russia with vodka, they may be surprised to know that the country has a far longer tradition of winemaking that dates back 3,000 years. In fact, according to Evgenia Ivanova, one of Moscow's most respected sommeliers, two Russian wineries in particular are quickly gaining attention both locally and abroad, reminding oenophiles of Russia's "other" drink.

Ivanova is a brand manager at OKV, one of Russia's oldest wine import companies, which owns a number of shops in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including the boutique Alta Vina at 33 Leningradsky Prospekt. "The interest in wine has grown enormously over the last 10 years in Russia," Ivanova said, speaking to The Moscow Times. It was while teaching at the wine school Millezim that Ivanova noticed an increase in the number of students interested in wine. She also noticed the increased enthusiasm for the wine tasting evenings she organizes at Open Wine.

The oldest traces of Russian winemaking have been found southwest of Krasnodarsky Krai. Winemaker Rayevskoye started to grow their own vineyards in this region in 2004. "The Rayevskoye winery produces interesting, original wine of the Pinot Noir sort. They can be proud of this because Pinot Noir is a capricious, aristocratic wine that requires a lot of work," Ivanova said. Before starting, the company invested a lot of time in research to find the best area to grow their grapes. "The best ground was found near the village of Rayevskoye and it was only after seven years of experimenting, in 2011, that they started to sell their wine, such as Pinot Noir and Renaissance," she said.

The Greek geographer Strabo noted the existence of vineyards in the Don River region more than 2,000 years ago. He wrote about vineyards that needed to be buried in order to survive the winter. Nowadays, winery uses the same technique in order to protect the vineyards against the severe winters in which temperature gets down to minus 30 degrees Celsius.

The first official mention of Vedernikov wine dates back to 1756. In 1914, Vedernikov's vineyards spanned 12,000 hectares, an area which was then dramatically reduced after the revolution. Boutique wine production suffered enormously under the Soviet Union because the government required production on a large scale. In addition, many vineyards were lost as a result of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign from 1985 to 1987. Fortunately, many of these dedicated wineries saved their vineyards, in hope of being able to profit off of them in better times, such as now. "In contrast to wine production in the Soviet Union, when the process was focused on quantity, brands such as Raevskoye and Vedernikov are focused on quality and uniqueness, which requires a lot of patience and time," said Ivanova.