DAN'S WINE BLOG-UKRAINE MKII

Friday, October 14, 2022

?Further to my blog of May 27, this year, The Ukraine wine industry, had been steadily blossoming in the post-Soviet era until 2014 when it lost just over one-third of its vineyards (including most of the best ones) when dictator, Putin, annexed Crimea. From then to February 2022 it had been concentrating on upgrading and enhancing its remaining vineyards, whilst focusing its export sales westwards toward Europe. Previously, Russia had been its largest market.

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As a result of the invasion in February, some vineyards were destroyed, some fell behind the enemy lines and yet others came under the threat of shelling. Their wine industry is mainly located in the south, near Odessa and the Black Sea (a region which has come under intensive Russian attack and is still under fire). As a result those wineries which have the resources are planting new vineyards close to the capital Kyiv. Those that don’t are struggling through as best as possible. The damage hasn’t been confined just to the vineyards, with Kyiv-based, Wine Idea Winery, having their winery destroyed by a Russian rocket, whilst Leleka Winery in Odessa had their storage warehouse bombed which destroyed almost all of their stock.

?The damage and destruction is not limited to wineries. One of the country’s largest wine importer/merchant, Wine Bureau, located near Kyiv had their facility bombed and around €15 million worth of stock destroyed.

?Those wineries in the now occupied regions of the country are suffering in not only having part of/or much of their stock being stolen by the Russian soldiers, but also they are really struggling to get casual staff and supplies so as to keep going. Most of the dry goods and chemical suppliers are from outside the occupied areas and will not deliver supplies into the occupied areas – even if they could get in without problems from the Russians. Staff is also a severe problem because as with most of the wine industry around the world they rely significantly on transitory migrant labour, the supply of which has now ceased. Their former staff have either left the country or are now serving in the Ukrainian military.

?Other wineries such as Beykush Wines, in Mykolaiv, currently find themselves on the front-line of the war with fighting raging around them. Each trip out into the vineyard is a challenging adventure as they have to watch out carefully for unexploded munitions amongst the vines.

?Domestically, wine sales have crashed as at various times parts or all of the country have been under martial law and the sale of alcohol has been prohibited.

?On a more positive note, Europe has taken a very keen interest in Ukrainian wine since the invasion started and sales are booming. A number of wineries attended ProWein Dusseldorf in May under the “Ukrainian Wine” banner which generated a great amount of interest and moral support from the visitors. Actual orders have started to flow through but are hampered by the logistical challenge of shipping wine safely out of a war zone.

?While the future of the Ukrainian wine industry is very much dependent on how effectively the Russians pursue their unprovoked invasion, hopefully, one day soon we will be able to try Ukrainian wines here in Australia and give a cheer for the brave souls who are currently battling incredible odds to make their wines.

?Well that’s it for this week, hopefully something cheerier next week. Please stay safe and always #chooseaustralianwine to enjoy and when possible drink #emergingvarieties. ?

?PS: Recently I saw a posting by Tyson Stelzer promoting an online course about the wines of Ukraine which currently costs AU$17.99 to procure, with the proceeds going to help the embattled Ukrainian wine industry. I bought it and other than the out of sync voice dubbing, it is interesting and informative (see the link shown below), so please consider lashing out and spending “a few bob” in acquiring the course yourself to learn a bit more about Eastern European wine and help an outstanding cause at the same time. Thanks, Dan T.

?Website Link:?https://www.udemy.com/course/wines-of-ukraine/

?STOP PRESS:

The “Riverland Small Winemakers’ Showcase” is on in the Riverland between October, 21-23. In recent times the Riverland has become home to some of the most exciting #emergingvarieties wines in the country. Yes, the BIG guys still produce gadzillions of litres of commercial wines BUT the little guys are producing sensational, cutting edge, top-class wines.

It is a three-day festival style event with various events hosted by 13 small winemakers and local food producers, across eight venues.

You can find more information from the link below.?Well worth checking out!

Website Link:?https://riverlandsmallwinemakers.wine/events/