Viticulture and winemaking in Dagestan (18th - early 20th centuries): traditional technologies and agricultural rituals

The aim of the study is to identify zonal characteristics of grape cultivation and processing, as well as to analyze traditional rituals associated with viticulture and winemaking. Archival materials; statistical data; testimonies of Russian officers and travelers of the 19th century; works of historians, ethnographers and specialists in the wine industry were studied. The methodology is based on the use of the historical-comparative method and the method of historical reconstruction. Using these methods, endemic grape varieties and traditional methods of cultivating them were identified, ancient recipes for making homemade wine were restored, and agricultural rituals associated with harvesting and traditions of making homemade wine were described. The role of terrace farming is emphasized as one of the main factors in the development of viticulture in the mountain-valley zone of Dagestan. Legal conflicts resulting from the ban on the consumption of strong drinks were identified. It was established that endemic grape varieties were grown in the mountains for their own consumption, wine production and its exchange for agricultural and livestock products; There were two types of wine produced: boiled and unboiled. The main centers of winemaking in Dagestan were identified, located in the mountain-valley zone (the villages Gimry, Zubutli, Gotsatl, etc.), on the plain (the city Kizlyar and its environs) and in Southern Dagestan (the city Derbent). The history of the formation of wine production in these urban centers was analyzed. As the study showed, the main reasons for the decline of viticulture in the mountains were land shortages and religious prohibitions related to the consumption of wine. Local rulers at the legislative level introduced a ban on the consumption, production and sale of wine; the ban on the use of alcohol was often part of the local system of customary law (the so-called adats). It was established that the cultivation of grapes in Dagestan had zonal features: in the mountains, grapes were propagated by seedlings, grafting, cuttings and layering; on the plain, on trees, stakes, spread and lying vines, alley and wire systems introduced by Armenian and Georgian winemakers. In addition, the cultivation of grapes in the region depended on natural and climatic conditions - endemic varieties were grown in the mountains, imported varieties were grown on the plains. The work is the first study of viticulture and winemaking from the perspective of ethnographic science, and is intended to revive interest in the autochthonous varieties of Dagestan grapes and their cultivation, taking into account zonal characteristics.