Ukraine’s Fine Wine Industry Endures and Grows in Wartime

Sergiy Stakhovsky’s post-tennis retirement plan was to focus entirely on his winery in Western Ukraine. The former professional player—whose defeat of Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013 is considered one of the tennis world’s great upsets—launched Stakhovsky Wines with the 2018 vintage to prove to his countrymen that delicious wine could be made in Ukraine.

But when Russia launched its full-scale invasion Feb. 25, 2022, his plans were derailed. He headed to the front lines. “For me it was simple,” he said. “I was born in Ukraine and played on the national team and saw the flag raised for us at the Olympics. I had to fight.”

Speaking to Wine Spectator from the basement of a military compound in Kiev, Stakhovsky reported that morale was low in his division. After weeks of relentless shelling, the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk fell to the Russians Feb. 17, making it the first major territory to be captured in more than nine months. Ukrainian units are running low on ammunition.

“We are tired. We don’t rest, and we feel the world’s support is slowing down,” he confessed. “But we keep fighting because we have no choice—if we stop, we crumble.”

[article-img-container][src=2024-03/ns_stakhovsky-vineyard-030624_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy of Stakhovsky Wines)] [alt= Stakhovsky Wines’ vineyards in the Zakarpattia region in Western Ukraine.][end: article-img-container]

Winemaking as an Act of Resistance

As Ukrainians brace for an uncertain future, an unlikely and somewhat miraculous bright spot in dark times has been the country’s flourishing craft wine movement, which seems to have taken on greater cultural significance in the midst of the war. Since the Russian invasion, 35 new wineries have popped up (some having relocated out of conflict zones), making for a total of 160 producers throughout the country.

Powered by defiance and resolve, Ukrainian producers have become increasingly reliant on international markets to stay afloat. Stakhovsky Wines, along with two other notable estates, Beykush Winery and Château Chizay, are now available in the U.S. with the launch of a new importer, Vyno Ukrainy.

“I’m amazed by the courage and determination of Ukrainian producers,” said Vyno Ukrainy founder Bruce Schneider, a longtime wine industry veteran based in New York. Schneider traveled to Ukraine in 2019 to visit Pereiaslav, south of Kiev, where his maternal grandparents were born. There he discovered many dynamic wine producers. “The country’s wine industry is entering a new chapter of diverse terroirs and rediscovery of local grapes. And right now, there are so many people who want to show support for the Ukrainian people.”

[article-img-container][src=2024-03/ns_beykush-amphora-030624_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy of Beykush)] [alt= A winemaker at Beykush works with amphora.][end: article-img-container]

Ukrainian Wines Are a Reclaimed Tradition

Evidence dates winemaking in Ukraine back 2,800 years ago in the Odessa region. The industry stagnated under Soviet rule, and during former president Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1980s campaign to reduce alcoholism, many of Ukraine’s most historic vineyards were ripped out. As with many former Soviet republics that gained independence in 1991, Ukraine had to resurrect its wine industry from scratch. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 was another blow, as half the nation’s wineries were located there, in soils where ancient Greeks once cultivated vines.

Beykush Winery is located along the Black Sea coastline in the Mykolaiv region near Odessa, which was attacked in the first days of the war. The area is still under Ukrainian control but sits near the border of Russian-occupied territory and suffers regular bombardment.

Svitlana…


Source : https://www.winespectator.com/articles/ukraine-wineries-endure-during-war

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