Discover the Wines of Ukraine
Wine and gastronomy form an essential part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Across the world many people adore national Ukrainian dishes such as Borsch and Varenyky, but the country’s wine-making culture may not be so obvious to outsiders.
Thankfully, in recent years knowledge about Ukraine’s vineyards has become more widespread and celebrated amongst wine lovers, with the help of recognition from prestigious wine awards and companies who are exporting on behalf of the winemakers.
The origins of winemaking in Ukraine date back to the 7th Century BC in Crimea, brought there by the ancient Greeks. Since then, wine production has been an important part of Ukraine’s cultural history, with cultivated vineyards spreading across the Southern and Western parts of Ukraine making use of the rich soil and perfect weather conditions. There are certain varieties of grapes that are indigenous to these regions.
During Soviet rule Ukraine was the USSR’s biggest wine supplier. In 1985-88 when Gorbachev ushered in the ‘anti-alcohol’ campaign, the majority of vineyards were cut off from production or destroyed. The 2000’s brought a new wave of Ukrainian wine making, bringing more life to the industry and establishing well-regarded names that are popular today. There are currently 160 wineries across the country.
Unfortunately, the consequences of the Russian invasion have greatly affected the wine industry of Ukraine. The number of working vineyards significantly decreased when Crimea, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were occupied. In 2013 there were approximately 45 thousand hectares of active vineyards - today that number has almost halved to 26.5 thousand hectares.
Ukraine’s oldest wine-making chateau is located in the Kherson region and was established in 1889 by Prince Trubetskoi. After Russia’s invasion in 2022, the chateau was targeted and suffered constant shelling. The historic building was ruined, their rare wine collection was looted, and the wider region still continues to endure missile attacks. Some vineyards have still not yet been de-mined. Since the invasion the owners have renamed the winery to Stoic Winery in an effort to move away from an identity which is connected to the Russian prince.
Unfortunately, across the industry today there is a lack of available staff to support the continued day-to-day running of wineries, as many people are away fighting at the front line. Regular missile attacks make it difficult to have a regular supply of electricity to businesses, affecting important production processes. This is especially difficult during harvest time when vast amounts of product risks of going to waste. Some wineries continue to work every day under missile attacks despite the dangers and risk to life.
Wines of Ukraine was launched in spring 2022 to help small and medium-sized wineries to promote their wines abroad and help with challenges they faced in the international market. After a successful launch and two busy years of trade, we have established several new export markets; United Kingdom, USA, Japan, Canada, and Europe.
The most exciting of these has been the launch of our UK branch Ukrainian Wine Company UK as we are the only branch of the company run by Ukrainians living abroad. The team has extensive experience in hospitality, marketing, import/export and the wine industry, and we are proud to introduce Ukrainian wine to the UK market.
In August 2024 we celebrated our one year anniversary and in this short time we’ve worked with with distributors, retailers, wine merchants, restaurants and bars nationwide. We regularly host wine tasting opportunities, recent events in Scotland have included Edinburgh Uncorked Fair and a charity dinner at Grand Cafe earlier this year.
We have carefully selected the best Ukrainian wine producers, each representing a unique terroir from different regions of Ukraine. They will make a great addition to any bespoke wine list or wine collection. We supply a range of sparkling, white, rose, orange, red and natural wines. We’re proud to offer distinctive indigenous grape varieties such as Telti-Kuruk and Sukholymanske (white), and the famous red hero - Odesa Black.
We represent the following:
Chateua Chizay and Stakhovsky Wines Zakarpattia (West)
Kolonist Wine, Villa Tinta and Frumushika-Nova Odesa region / Besarabia subregion (South)
Beykush Winery Mykolaiv region (South)
Biologist Craft Winery Kyiv region (Centre)
The majority of the wines we stock have already received recognition worldwide as proved by grateful consumers and prestigious awards including 57 awards by Decanter, IWSC, IWC, Berliner Wine Trophy and more.
Kolonist Family Winery, Est. 2005
“Our main goal is to promote Ukraine’s culture, history and bravery through our wines. We believe that our wines are a reflection of our country, and we want to share this with the world. ”
Support Ukraine and its brave winemakers - order wines from our online shop or find wine tasting events near you.
Cheers!
Ukrainian Wine Company UK
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