Pictured (left): Svitlana Tsybak, CEO  Wines of Ukraine & a selection of wines sampled

Ukraine much in the news, is also a wine producing country with a well-established wine industry and viticulture tradition going back over 2,800 years.  With many of its wine producing regions on or near its Black Sea coast, Ukraine’s wine industry has been seriously impacted by the current conflict. Despite the onslaught and an uncertain future, the Ukrainian wine sector is enduring and continues to produce wine. AWMB are now working in association with Wines of Ukraine to offer them a marketing platform to help them promote their wines.  There are currently 160 wineries farming 30,200 ha of vineyards in five main regions, Zakarpattia, Bacota, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv. 

Wines of Ukraine were exhibiting their wines at VieVinum  This was a very interesting tasting and the wines were varied, both in quality and style.  Carpathian Sekt from Chateau Chizay from the Zakarpattia region was the first Ukrainian wine I tasted.  They produce nearly 1.3 million bottles annually. The Sekt is tank fermented and made from Blaufrankisch.  https://chizay.com  Beykush Winery in Mykolaiv in the Black Sea region was very different.  The grape Teli-Kuruk is a native grape that may orginally have been Turkish and whose origins date from the time of the Ottoman Empire.  The 2023 Beykush Winery Telti-Kuruk was very aromatic white grape that must orginally have been from the Muscat family.  Beykush have 14ha of vineyards and produce 75,000 bottles annually.

From Odesa in the Black Sea region, I tried the 2019 46 Parallel Grand Admiral a Brut Nature Rosé made from Pinot Noir and bottle aged for 46 months on its lees.  This was a real surprise, wonderful brioche notes and a well-made bottle fermented sparkling wine style, a real find!

Finally, the 2022 Chateau Chizay Late Harvest Furmint was a Great Gold Medal Winner at the Concours Mondial Sweet Wine competition this year.  Made from Furmint that allowed Botrytis to develop. This was outstanding, ripe quince, juicy peach, pear, raisins, and honey.  A well-deserved winner.

Ukrainian Wines are available through on-line wine site Ukrainian Wine Company which is based in the UK https://uawines.co.uk/