Wine-making at the foot of snow-covered Kazakh mountains

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The last episode in our current series of Postcards takes us to a popular wine growing part of the Kazakh region of Almaty.

Key facts about the Kazakh region of Almaty:

• The region is in the country’s southeast
• It shares a border with Kyrgyzstan & China
• It covers an area of 225,000 sq kms
• The city of Almaty is the country’s largest
• It is a former capital of Kazakhstan

Here in the Assa Valley, surrounded by the impressive Tian-Shan mountains, some of the best-known Kazakh labels are helping to revive an historic wine-making culture.

Euronews’ Seamus Kearney reported: “The conditions here at the foot of snow-covered mountains are seen as perfect for wine making: a thousand metres above sea level, fertile soil and a fresh breeze that prevents the grapes from ripening too early.”

Some of the wines produced here have won awards at international competitions, including a gold medal in France in 2015.

Saule Katapbayeva from Arba Wine told Postcards: “The vines here at Arba Wine are grown using our own roots.

“During the whole wine making process, we don’t use chemicals. We make 100 percent natural, organic, clean products.”

Open to the public for tours and wine-tasting, the company uses bottles, corks and packaging from European suppliers and the oak barrels come from Italy and France.

And at the end of our visit, just enough time for a goodbye-toast from the Postcards team.