WINE & DINE

Ukrainian Wine

THE WORLD looks on aghast and with bated breath over the fate of the Ukrainian people in the face of fierce Russian aggression. Although it does not look like any of us will be beating a path to their borders for sun and sand any time soon, except to show humanitarian solidarity, we can at least show our support for this beleaguered country, by buying their wine. Although not well known in the UK, several brands have found their way to our shores and are worth seeking out.

Ukraine’s wine industry is wellestablished. There is evidence, through the presence of presses and amphorae, that a wine culture existed as long ago as the 4th century BC, particularly in the area of the south coast of the Crimea.

One of the advantages of vinification in amphorae is that the wine is vinified without any addition and then extracted slowly. This results in silky smooth tannins, even in grapes known for their high tannin levels, such as Mourvèdre or Malbec.

The soil around the city of Sudak (between Russia & Ukraine) was especially fertile and findings indicate that natural fermentation processes were used with wines being imported from Italy, Spain, and France, where the climate was very similar to that in the Crimea.

By contrast, in the north of the country (around Kyiv and Chernihiv), the cultivation of grapes for winemaking really only began in the 11th century with the monks, mirroring activity in much of Europe at the time. In later centuries winemaking was also heavily sponsored by royalty.

During the reign of Empress Catherine the Great in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Count Mikhail Vorontsov planted the first wine gardens, establishing a large winery near Yalta. In 1822, Swiss winegrowers established a colony at Shabo (Chabaq) and wine from here was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, receiving a medal of recognition.

Prince Lev Golitsyn the founder of the famous sparkling wines of the region is renowned for making Russian “Champagne” after the Crimean War, on his property near Yalta.

Later, under the last Tsar Nicholas II, the predecessor of Massandra, today's state winery, was founded. During Soviet times Ukraine was the largest supplier of the wines in the USSR but this all came to an end in 1986 when many of the vineyards were destroyed; Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had started a campaign against the over-consumption of alcohol in USSR. Since 2000, the production as well as the export of the wines, has increased rapidly. This is largely thanks to winemakers adopting modern technologies and a west European approach to winemaking, focusing on quality controls. The Southern Ukraine region of Odessa is particularly exciting for the production of red wines.

Ukraine consists of four major wine-growing regions, and its continental climate is characterised by hot summers and severe winters, with temperatures dipping as low as minus 30° Celsius.

The largest is in an area in the southwest, around the city of Odessa which produces almost 50% of the total area. The Crimean Peninsula, on the Black Sea, is about a third of this size. The key winegrowing regions are situated close to the Black Sea coast in Southern Ukraine as well as around the Tisza valley of Zakarpattia Oblast. Others include Crimea, home of top producer Massandra, with its extensive network of seven underground tunnels. Credited as the father of modern winemaking in Crimea, he cultivated some 600 grape varieties and made sparkling wine. At its peak, Massandra produced 10 million bottles a year and this historic winery is a popular stop for visiting VIPs.

A snippet of information worth storing away for a brighter future, is that after the fall of Communism, Tim Littler, in setting up a travel company, visited the Crimea to plan a rail tour and was so impressed by both the quality and quantity of the wines that make up what is now called the ‘Massandra Collection’ he put in a huge order for them.

This business deal involved handing over large sums of cash to a dubious Cadillac-driving Ukrainian at a dodgy airport hotel. The transaction was beleaguered by Soviet-Union bureaucracy, and the winery refused to hand over the goods as he had no ‘contract’. He ended up leaving without the wines, but his train was stopped enroute by a truck which miraculously ended months of fruitless negotiation and he was eventually able to ship it to the UK. Some of these rare vintage wines are available, at a price, from www. hedonism.co.uk

Sparkling wine from the region is also much sought after, and until recently were produced around Kyiv, Bakhmut and Lviv; names we have become familiar with in recent weeks, for all of the wrong reasons.

The main grape varietals are Aligoté, Muscat, Traminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot gris along with several other local varieties.

When we can once again venture to this part of the world safely, I shall plan to visit the Magarach Wine Institute, near Yalta, to sample some of their 20,000 different wines derived from 3,200 vine species.

For more a more extensive look at these fascinating wines it is worth reading these articles: https://www.jancisrobinson.com /articles/massandra-crimeasliquid-crown-jewels https://www.theguardian.com /world/2017/feb/17/easternukraine-wine-tour-war-zone-artwi nery L.P-V.