Recommended list of Ukrainian wines

Odessa, Ukraine

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Recommended list of Ukrainian wines

I assume that you already know that Ukrainian wine has a long history and they make good wines here.

If not, I recommend ordering an online lecture on the short history of Ukrainian wine on the Airbnb_expirience website. The price is not high, but you will have pleasure and in addition, you can gather together friends or relatives in different cities and countries over a glass of wine (Zoom class).

Autochthons or local varieties

The trend for local, little-known wines have taken off. And here Ukraine has something to offer.

Telti Kuruk - the exact time of origin of the variety is not established and goes back to the times of the ancient Greeks. By the way, the variety is resistant to phylloxera, so, probably, it survived. Terroir Shabo 70ga (Beykush Winery is also experimenting with this variety). You can buy Shobo everywhere in Ukraine and also on the Internet.
Hybrid varieties born in the USSR, in the 20th century.

A) *Sukholimansky is a white variety born by crossing Chardonnay and Plavay varieties. it is a balance of acidity and drinking. Good daily wine. Wineries: Kolonist, Frumushika, Villa Tinta and Tairov Winemaking Institute

B) Citron Magaracha - in my opinion, a very promising variety and I see that many winemakers are experimenting with it now. Bright citrus aroma and refreshing, absolutely dry and crunchy taste. Perfect summer wine. Try the wine from Frumushika-Nova and Graevo. Graevo has a gorgeous sample of "orange" wine from this variety (they took 95point from Canada competition 2021).

Odessa Black, aka Alibernet.

A variety that does not require advertising in Ukraine. A trademark of Ukrainian winemaking.

Odessa black is a unique grape variety, which was born in Odessa, Ukraine in the 50th of the 20th century, and Its result of crossing Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Boucher.

Bright and wild, powerful like a real Ukrainian!

It is worth comparing wines from Kolonist (available in Canada stores), Villa Tinta, Biologist and Tairov Winemaking Institute.

*- the spelling of varieties is not unambiguously legalized. So, wines can be written differently on different labels, especially in Latin alphabet.

International regional varieties of the Black Sea

Widespread along the coast from Georgia to Bulgaria grape varieties Saperavi, Rkatseteli and others.

Saperavi is an ancient Georgian variety, it feels good throughout the Black Sea coast, especially in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Often used in blends, which gives rise to beautiful original wines that reflect local terroir. A striking example is Freedom Blend from Purcari (you can buy it in many countries) and Kara-Karmen from Beykush (available in UK stories). As solo, the best examples from Stakhovsky winery (2018) and the Grand Reserve Shabo line.
Rkatseteli is the most popular white variety in Georgia now and the most common in the 20th century (in the former USSR). A universe variety used in blends, in the production of Sparkling and Brandy, but it is also good as an independent wine. Often this variety is made of "amber" or "orange" wine. Try Arbina from Beykush, or Shabo wines.

In the United States, these grapes are worked with in the FingerLikes region in the KonstantineFrank winery. By the way, Konstantin Frank was a native of Odessa and a man who managed in the 1930s a large wine factory in Ukraine. And in the mid-20th century he revolutionized high-quality winemaking in the United States.

Aligote is a French variety that grows mainly in Ukraine and Moldova (!) . Grapes are grown for the production of brandy and sparkling wines. A simple and popular wine in the 20th century, it is now difficult to found as a mono wine. But there is a good aged version of "Perlina Stepu" (Pearl of the Steppe) from Trubetskoy winery (if you can still find it, due it located near Kherson and destroyed now).
It is important to mentioning the famous Hungarian variety of Furmint. After all, it is one of the best Hungarien sweet wines from TOKAI. I recommend trying this variety from the Chizay winery, from Transcarpathia. It is a wonderful dry wine.

International varieties.

As in the rest of the world, in Ukraine the most popular varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Riesling, Merlot and Pinot family widely cultivated too.

Cabernet Sauvignon - feels good in the Odessa region and proof of this, numerous medals at international competitions. Shabo of the Grand Reserve line, Odessos Winery, Askano Valley, Oxamite of Ukraine from Trubetskoy are perfect examples.

Chardonnay is a very gastronomic and understandable wine. Guliyev had a good Chardonnay in 2016, Beykush of 2017, you can safely recommend the Reserve and Grand Reserve line from Shabo. Kolonist and Frumushika Nova also make quality wines.

As a result, there should be an advertisement for wine store, but I don’t sell wine yet. I only recommended my resource page Where to buy Ukraine wine in the World. (the article is constantly updated)

And about an advertisement for tastings of Ukrainian wines. Yes, we offer it both like online class in Zoom (by Airbnb_expirience), and "live" in the wine shops of Odessa.