Wine As a Weapon Of

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Russian afterwards, Shortly illegitimate. as ern part of Ukraine. ofUkraine. part ern south-east the in on rages conflict But tion. facilitation, public procurement, and competi trade rights, property intellectual standards, as such norms, trade EU with proximation” with ap “gradual a consumers, including provisions binding 500m bloc’s the to 28-nation access Ukraine give to promises It 2014. 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Unexpected win Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Ten years ago, (Premier Grand Cru Classé B) in Saint-Émilion, one euro equalled 6.8 UAH or hryvnia. In 2009, as well as less expensive cru bourgeois-level But Ukraine’s loss of Crimea, according the rate grew to about 11 per euro. In August wines. 5/14 MEININGER’S WBI 5/14 MEININGER’S to importers, may be their gain. About 35% of 2014, the exchange rate was nearly 18 per euro. Pfeiffer is nonetheless optimistic about pros- Ukrainian wine was produced in Crimea and “That is really hurting us,” Zorya said. pects for the Ukrainian market because “the importers want to plug that gap, provided ex- Despite this, and the war, Ukrainians have people I have met in Kyiv are very westward- change rates settle. been buying more wine – with imports grow- oriented and they appreciate wine more and Donning a ‘F**k Putin’ bracelet this past ing steadily through 2013, if only remaining a more.” August, Christina Xinias, owner of Dolmart very small part of the pie. In 1993, for example, Wine – Ukraine’s oldest fine wine importer, Ukrainians drank about half a litre per capita Export possibilities founded in 1993 – sees a potentially brighter per annum, with vodka about 40 litres per an- future now that Crimea is no longer part of num. By 2012, wine consumption rose to 7.5 L But while the conflict may have cleared the Ukraine and calls that “bigger news than the per capita, according to Jenia Nikolaichuk, an market of Crimean wines, it’s also meant that EU Agreement”. independent wine consultant who used to work Ukrainian producers have lost access to their “If you look at total wine consumed in with Xinias. Russian market, and will need to export to Ukraine, 95% is home grown and this is the Market observers point to the success of the West to make up the shortfall. This means figure that is going to drop this year – and it Italian wines in recent years. Brussels-based Ukrainian wine producers will have to raise is mostly Ukrainian s**t that we have to put market researcher Andriy Boytsun echoes other standards considerably. up with,” she said. “Thankfully we are not get- market analysts in saying that Italian wines are Many of Ukraine’s 52 wine producers are ting any more because it comes from Crimea, the “most popular dry wines” from the EU, after outside of Crimea and these need to improve so this is the interesting point for us, because he studied the Ukrainian wine market recently. quality to sell in the EU, said Igor Nykolyn, we can make more volumes and take more of He stresses that travel by younger Ukrainians president of the association of Ukrainian wine the market share.” has led to an interest in EU wines, and credits producers. “If you look at our vineyards, most Statistics indicate that the share of imported Italian wines for being both competitively priced are huge and date from the Soviet era, each with wines is still a distinct minority, but numbers and engendering an appeal for Italy as a travel more than 1,000 hectares per producer making are growing, according to International Wine destination. what I would call industrial wines that would & Spirit Research (IWSR). In 2004, Ukrainians Several Kyiv department stores feature a not meet European standards,” he said. consumed nearly 1.85m 12-bottle cases of im- wide range of price points and increasingly in- Needed improvements include a better sys- ported wines, mainly from Moldova and Geor- ternational wine selections, from Israel and Ar- tem of quality control that includes “match- gia. By 2009, total imported wine consumed gentina to Italy and Germany. Take Fourchette ing proper grape varieties to terroirs, creat- amounted to just under 2.47m cases. Further- Gourmande, an upscale food shopping centre ing and respecting origins of wine production more, the percentages of EU imports are ris- with a wine section that included humble Chil- such as geographical names and using mod- ing, while those from Moldova and Georgia are ean Cabernets for 50 UAH ($3.85) a bottle to ern technologies so that we can meet Europe- decreasing. Mouton Rothschild 1998 for 14,000 ($1,080.00). an standards to export our wines,” explained And while overall wine consumption fell Nikolaichuk – who holds a WSET level 3 and Nykolyn. He also said that current Ukrainian from its 2010 peak of over 34.6m cases to just has invented a Ukrainian wine game similar to legislation allows hybrid varieties that are under 21m in 2013, consumption of imported Trivial Pursuit – says that the average price of prohibited in the EU. wine increased even in the wine purchased is about 60 The EU agreement will take time to take ef- troubled year of 2013, reach- UAH and includes wines like fect, experts say. For example, the agreement ing almost 3.7m cases across Italian Primitivo and Chilean gives Ukrainian producers 10 more years to use all categories, from still to Cabernet as well as what were protected EU product names for alcohol such as sparkling wines. Although until recently home-grown Champagne and Cognac. unreliable given the political wines from Crimea. Although many of the developments sound situation, forecasts for 2014 European exporters agree optimistic, the reality is that the continued war, indicate a further drop in total that Ukraine is still a “nov- that has so far killed nearly 3,700 people and wine consumption; imports are ice market”, explained Peer wounded some 9,000 more, pushes positive expected to remain at about the Pfeiffer of Bordeaux negoci- prospects further into the future. On the last same level as for 2013. ant Borie-Manoux, who trav- day of the Mundus Vini summer tastings in late However, as much as the els regularly to the Russian August this year, assembled judges from around prospects for EU wine imports Federation and Ukraine to the world heard that Rodionova could not attend seem good, the continued con- sell wines from the negociant because of the continued conflict. She said that flict in south-eastern Ukraine portfolio, which include classi- she needs to find work because wine magazines has led to devastatingly unfa- fied growths Château Batail- have no advertisers. The text message that she vourable exchange rates. Igor ley (5th growth) in Pauillac sent said: “I could not come, as my family is Zorya sells Italian wines to Jenia Nikolaichuk and Château Trotte Vieille worried about the war.” W