KRASNODAR, December 7. /TASS/. Fanagoria, one of Russia's largest wine producers has started to export its products to France, the company press service told TASS on Tuesday.

The first batch consisting of 24,000 bottles and eight different wines was delivered to the French grocery chain Auchan.

"The first batch of wines in history has been shipped from Fanagoria to the French Auchan retail network. In total, two trucks, or 24,192 bottles of 8 wines from the Cru Lermont and 100 Shades series, went to French Grenoble," the statement said.

Negotiations with the French retailer took place in April of this year. The main difficulties were associated with finding a suitable carrier for transporting products across the EU.

"Another important aspect of the transaction is the insurance coverage of the deferred payment provided by EXIAR to the Russian Export Center Group, thanks to which the company has the opportunity to expand the geography of its supplies on mutually beneficial terms with foreign partners," said the head of the export department of Fanagoria Mikhail Lelyuk.

The press service also added that the French partners ordered both wines from classic grape varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and the Caucasian autochthon Saperavi.

The Krasnodar Region is one of the leading wine-growing regions in Russia, the total area of vineyards there as of 2021 is 28,300 hectares, which is 32% of all vineyard areas in the country. There are 9 geographical locations with a protected geographical indication there and 21 wine production territories with a protected place of origin label.