The technical opening of the Wine Museum took place in Tashkent

The technical opening of the Wine Museum took place in Tashkent.

On August 12, the Plov Museum cultural and gastronomic complex officially opened in Tashkent. After a year of testing, the founders of the Caravan Group Restaurants holding company expressed satisfaction with the project's development and its adherence to the original concept. The restaurateurs stated, "You can judge it harshly now. We are ready for objective criticism."

Over the past year, the Plov Museum has become one of Tashkent's key culinary attractions. Currently, 18 types of plov from various regions of Uzbekistan, including the Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Fergana regions, are prepared here with the participation of renowned oshpaz chefs. The complex welcomes approximately 1,000 visitors daily, often including distinguished guests of the capital and foreign delegations, for whom a visit to the Plov Museum has become an important part of their cultural and educational program. Furthermore, as part of its mission to support and promote national culinary traditions, the complex regularly hosts cultural events and plov-making master classes.

To celebrate the anniversary and full opening of the complex, its founders held a gala event to present their new projects.

The main project was the Wine Museum, the technical launch of which took place on the same day at the Plov Museum. The new complex will offer visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of winemaking in Uzbekistan and sample the products of modern winemakers. Timur Musin, Senior Managing Partner of Caravan Group and the main founder of the Plov Museum, noted that wine culture in Uzbekistan is underdeveloped due to a lack of public awareness and recent restrictions on wine production. He believes the opening of the Wine Museum will promote wine culture among Uzbeks, showcase local brands, attract public attention, and create favorable conditions for development and healthy competition in the industry.

Several dozen modern wineries in Uzbekistan participated in the launch of the new project. Among them was the MSA Family Winery, a family-owned winery renowned for its premium wines and international awards. Anastasia Pogrebnyak, a sommelier with 13 years of experience and brand ambassador for MSA Family Winery, emphasized that Uzbekistan's wine culture has a rich and ancient history: shards of jugs containing traces of wine dating back 2,000 to 2,500 years are still being found in the country. Despite a long period of stagnation in Uzbek winemaking, a renaissance is currently being observed in various regions of Uzbekistan.

"I believe we are entering a new stage of development," explained Anastasia. "As for our winery, we are striving to develop and create a symbiosis of technologies. We import French yeast, French corks, and equipment from Europe—and we reveal the terroir and potential of the land and nature of Uzbekistan in our wines."

Following the launch of the Wine Museum, Caravan Group also decided to resume production of its own sparkling wine brand, Affresco. It was first created 15 years ago from six grape varieties. According to Timur Musin, now is the time to bring it to market and "ensure it lives in our cellars for decades to come."

Another important project of the Plov Museum is the expansion of the "I Love Palov" line of plov-making products sold directly at the complex. The main innovation will be the sale of amukhta from outstanding oshpaz masters—a blend of vegetable oils used in plov preparation. Timur Musin noted that each master oshpaz creates their own unique amukhta, blending up to ten different types of oil, reflecting their signature culinary style. Such a signature product can attract the public and maintain interest in the plov-making tradition.

"There are already about eight oshpaz, and it will get to the point where each oshpaz will have his own butter in the Plov Museum," Musin explained. "We are the first in the history of plov to do this. That is, everyone at home made amukhta, but no one thought of making it the signature of a particular author."

Finally, the largest project announced at the event was an ethnographic village—a hotel, sports, health, and entertainment complex in the Tashkent region. According to Caravan Group, this complex will be a place where every guest can not only relax but also immerse themselves deeply in the national culture and traditions of Uzbekistan, including, of course, culinary traditions. The ethnographic village will be located in the Bostanlyk district of the Tashkent region, covering a total area of 15 hectares. According to Timur Musin's estimates, construction of the complex will take another 3-4 years and several hundred million dollars. However, he believes this significant investment has every chance of becoming a successful and attractive project for domestic and international tourism.

Shakhrizoda Khusainova