Russian wine?

Apparently so, and there's a website dedicated to it: www.russiawines.com

I guess with the regions being near the Republic of Georgia, it should come as no surprise. Time to start brushing up on this one!

Russia has so much land, with so much variety, and much space that there are bound to be sections of it that are perfect for grape growing and wine making.

Portions of Russia stretch as far south latitudally [?!] as Rome.

Well, yeah, capacious amounts and for a long time, Paul.

It's just that not much was ever exported, and even less of that was exported to North America.

The Georgians, by the way, make great amounts of sparkling wine. And consume vast amounts as well, I'm told. Unfortunately, from what I hear, and from what I've tasted, most of it isn't very good.

While you're at it, would you be surprised that there's a fairly thriving wine production going on in Turkey as well? Yep, despite it being a Muslim country.

"I would much prefer a crisp, dry Vidal Blanc from coastal Rhode
Island to yet another dull Chardonnay from a too-hot climate."
-- Mark Chien, Pennsylvania State Viticulturalist

Well...maybe, if those were my only two choices. Thankfully, they are not my only choices. And I'm sorry, most Vidal Blancs would come in second to about...oh, thirty or so whites I could name off the top of my little pointy head, Paul. I suggest Mr. Chien might want to get out more.

Very true, Ryan, and it makes lots of sense when one considers the many opportune terroirs that must exist all along southern Russia especially. Having said that, it would be a great thing for vinous diversity to start seeing estates opening up in those regions and for Russia to adopt wine as a staple of its culinary culture, much as the Mediterranean countries have typically done.

In the meantime, though, it would be good to see more estate-oriented wines coming out of places like Bulgaria and Romania as well.

I suggest Mr. Chien might want to get out more.

Hoke, I disagree completely with the spirit of your post and I agree with what he has written. Perhaps it is you who need to widen your views a bit? Vidal makes delightful table wines in all the styles - from bone dry to semi-dry to late-harvest, all the way to icewine.

You are of course free to your preferences ... but please respect others' as well.

Hoke, I disagree completely with the spirit of your post and I agree with what he has written. Perhaps it is you who need to widen your views a bit? Vidal makes delightful table wines in all the styles - from bone dry to semi-dry to late-harvest, all the way to icewine.

You are of course free to your preferences ... but please respect others' as well.

Paul, I do respect other's preferences, I was simply registering my own preferences. How is that not respectful?

As to widening my views a bit: I think I can claim, without any fear of being challenged by you, to have far wider ranging views, and to have tasted a far wider range of wines, than you have ever imagined.

You don't need to describe the varied styles of Vidal Blanc to me. I've tasted them all, many, many times, and over many, many years, and from many---well, not many, I guess, but several---different places and producers. I have thoroughly investigated Vidal Blanc, along with pretty much every other hybrid, cross, mutation, native/non vinifera, wild grape variety or blend thereof that I could get my hands on. I have unflaggingly, and often to my palate's displeasure, dutifully tasted some of the worst (and occasionally wonderful) wines ever made, all in the search of being as knowledgeable and informed as I could possibly be in my chosen profession.

You choose to proselytize a certain very narrow segment of wines, then criticize other people when they do not share your dazzlement with them. That you are excited about that narrow subset is fine; I actually admire that. But that you choose to proselytize at every opportunity (and often without actually knowing anything about the wines you champion), and then take umbrage when someone does not share the evangelical fervor you think appropriate and cares enough to say so----that is unacceptable, Paul.

If I spoke out of ignorance, you might be right to upbraid me. If I spoke out of malice, you could chide me as well. I was speaking neither in ignorance nor from malice, however. I was pointing out that your booster quote perhaps didn't parse as well to the uninitiated as you might think: it's overly simplistic, puts forth a false either/or argument, uses poor logic...and it seems silly to me to have a Pennsylvania viticulurist championing a Rhode Island wine against a totally separate category of other wines. What, there are no good PA wines? Rhode Island is the very core of Vidal? Vidal and (I assume poorly made Chardonnay from regions where it does not do well) are in some way similar to each other?

Just so you'll be clear, Paul, I wasn't really dissing Vidal. (I don't care for it overly much, but neither do I dislike it when well made.) I was more criticizing your "tag line". It sucks. But then, I don't generally like tag lines anyway. They smack too much of bumper stickers. Bumper stickers I have to look at briefly, then they're gone. Tag lines on a forum don't go away nearly as quickly; they stay around and tend to get analyzed for content and internal logic.

I think you'll find that Mark Chien has "gotten out more" already.

Mark Chien - Pennsylvania State Viticulturalist

Enough said.

Russian wines, hmmm? Can you spell "Saperavi"? Sure you can!

I used to sell a lot of Georgian wine, although I had no idea what I was selling. We just put out those weird terra-cotta jugs, and away they'd go. I've tasted a few (no, I couldn't read the labels) and they were more like port than anything else.

Thanks Dave. Getting back on topic, I have to say that Saperavi has made it to Ontario in the past - from Georgia, of course - and one of the bottlings that was featured was truly an excellent wine. Previous examples were simpler, but this latest one that I managed to purchase had a very interesting Mediterranean garrigue-like nose that frankly surprised me, though if the provenance of that aroma was in any way connected to the vineyard surroundings, well then I guess I shouldn't be! Here is a note of this most fine Saperavi that I enjoyed:

2002 Tbilvino Saperavi (Republic of Georgia)

Being 12% alc./vol. and possessing a beautiful, saturated ruby/beet-red colour (remember that Saperavi, while a vinifera grape, is a "teinturier" grape: its juice is pigmented as well as its skins), I found a wine with considerable complexity on the nose and a decidedly Old World, kind of "Mediterranean" nose: well-defined red fruits with an overlay of spicy sandalwood - much like that which you'll find in many a Chianti, or in the Portuguese Periquita red. On the palate, there is ample, lively acidity, as well as a delightful tannic grip that asks politely for a few years' bottle age. This is a truly wonderful red - a quality-defined red - from a country that clearly has all the requisite gifts of nature and the know-how to make very fine wines. It's no surprise that Georgia should do this, after all, since wine has been a part of Georgian culture for thousands of years - something that North American wine consumers are not always aware of. Tasted in April 2004.

That's an interesting site. I would like to know more about Russian wine as I don't see why there should not be good terroirs near the Caspian and Black Seas. However, the proximity of Daghestan (the largest wine area) to Chechnya is not likely to provide the most serenely propitious background to winemaking, especially when the dead-handed Soviet tradition has to be thrown off.

According to sympathetic articles in the British press at the time when Russia put an embargo on Georgian wine, there are some wine of character and quality from Georgia and the Crimea (now in Ukraine) was well respected its Massandra winery (the famous Massandra collection). Both these areas are not far from Russian wine areas marked on the map.

In the meantime, though, it would be good to see more estate-oriented wines coming out of places like Bulgaria and Romania as well.

With Romania and Bulgaria gaining entrance into the EU this year, I fully expect to see more wines from these two countries on my dinner table soon. I've had a few Romanian wines in the past with varied results. There are some solid dessert wines and late-harvest styles that I've found appealing. I think one of the biggest problems is that Romania is one of the most polluted countries in Eastern Europe. The horrible health conditions for people not to mention wine is appalling. With EU membership, this will surely change as well. Russian wines give me far less hope (in the near future anyway).


Prost!
Bill

I've been to Georgia a couple of times, a truly fantastic country to visit. They have a very special wineculture. Traditionally, wine isn't consumed in the same way as in most of the world. At a traditional Georgian dinnerparty (supra) you drink wine only during the toasts, you're not allowed to sip the wine whenever you like with the food. And when you drink, you have to empty the whole glass in one go... Because of this, everyday wine in Georgia isn't very strong (about 8-10%), and doesn't taste very much, it's quite Beaujoulais-like, and can vary a lot in color, from yellowish to deep red, but quite often it's kind of rosé-like. It's a wine made to drink, no fuss. (The best table-wine however, can have a almost Chateau Musar-like charm to it.)

That said, I've also had some really good Georgian Saperavi-wines, deep in colour and highly enjoyable. Unfortenately I have no tasting notes since I wasn't really interested in wine at the time.
According to the Georgians themselves, they were the first in the world to make wine!

well, i felt had to post here.

1. the only russian wine's i have heard are from region "krasnodarsky krai"(sochi/former land of georgia but that's another subject to talk about)
i have not tasted russian wine but i dare to assume it's not very good.
if anyone whant's to drink alcohol produced in russia i'd reccomend russia vodka that's what they can do.(russian beer is also nice)

ok about georgia
1. sparkling wines i don't like em but yes they are made a lot and are drinked a lot i can't really say wheter it's very good or not since i just don't like it. but georgian grape doth have a good potential for making great sparkling wine.

2. saperavi - is i'd say one of the best grape varietys in the world! but georgia had lot of problems with falsificatan i must say that eventhou a lot has been made and a lot of progress is in fighting against it it's still a problem(e.g. a wine brand xvanchkara can't be made more then rougfhly a million bottle a year, but used to be made about 10 mil bottle a year lol now about 3 i guess that's still a lot of falsification but much less) saperavi 2002 even if is not falsificated and made very well wount be very good 2003 is much better. and i'd dare to say 2006 will be best in last 5 or 10 years!

3. Holger B. everyday wine in georgia is minimum 10% i'd say unless if you were in region imereti there wine is 8-10% plus high acidity and imo worst wine in whole country. personally i prefear wines from Racha-Lechxumi(mostly famous for it's semi sweets but that's what i love ) but of course the best wine is in kakheti region. also kartli is very nice too wines from there are more soft and have less tanin.

Vakhtang, As I have already said privately, welcome to the WLDG. This is one of (and maybe number 1) best wine discussion group on the internet. I say maybe, because I haven't read them all yet.