Top 100 wines of Russia - Page 10

Discover the top 100 best wines of Russia as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the wines that are popular of Russia and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Discovering the wine region of Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world, covering over 17 million square kilometers (6. 5 million square miles). It also spans 143 degrees of longitude (27-170°E) and 41 degrees of latitude (41-82°N). Only the southernmost lands of the country are capable of supporting quality viticulture.

Many Russian vineyards are located near the borders with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Dagestan, Russia's southernmost republic, and its close neighbour, Krasnodar Krai, are the main wine regions. They border the Caspian and Black Seas respectively - an important factor in their climatic suitability for viticulture. Without the moderating influence of these inland seas, the very continental Climate would be too extreme for successful viticulture.

Russian winters are generally very cold, so much so that many vineyards pile soil around their vines to protect them from terminal frosts. Summers are sunny and Warm, which sometimes makes irrigation necessary. The Caspian and Black Seas also mitigate the threat of drought, although a significant proportion of Dagestan is semi-desert. The most common Grape varieties in Russian vineyards are Rkatsiteli, which accounts for more than one in three vines, and a range of European varieties.

Discover the grape variety: Merlot

Merlot noir is a grape variety that originated in France (Bordeaux). It produces a variety of grape specially used for wine making. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by small to medium sized bunches, and medium sized grapes. Merlot noir can be found in many vineyards: South West, Languedoc & Roussillon, Cognac, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Armagnac, Burgundy, Jura, Champagne, Rhone Valley, Beaujolais, Provence & Corsica, Savoie & Bugey.

Food and wine pairing with a wine of Russia

wines from the region of Russia go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of braised beef with guinness, risotto of penne with chorizo and merguez or wild boar, roe deer or doe leg.

Organoleptic analysis of wine of Russia

On the nose in the region of Russia often reveals types of flavors of tree fruit, earth or oak and sometimes also flavors of black fruit.

News from the vineyard of Russia

Ukraine winery’s mission to deliver bottles to DWWA

Amid the devastation and turmoil since Russia’s invasion on 24 February, Beykush winery on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea Coast has been among those attempting to continue operations as much as possible. Last week, Beykush began transporting thousands of wines to western Ukraine in order to protect them for possible export to other markets, winery director Svetlana Tsybak told Decanter. ‘Yesterday we sent three palettes, about 1,200 bottles, and today the same quantity,’ she said. She also s ...

Wartime Cognac

The French shipment of 600 bottles of De Haartman & Co Cognac – plus 15 boxes of Bénédictine liqueur – is believed to have been destined for Tsar Nicholas II, but was intercepted in the Baltic Sea and sunk by a German submarine in May 1917. Now Cognac house Birkedal Hartmann has refilled 300 of the recovered bottles with Cognac dating from the early 1900s, using packaging identical to the original, and is selling them for €9,000 each. The wreck of the SS Kyros was discovered by Swedish explo ...

California 2022 harvest variable but quality predictions high

Given the sheer climatic diversity, the California 2022 harvest was a story of variability, specific varieties and varied approaches to making it all work out. Yields are down, nearly across the board. Still, winemakers and vineyard managers report high-quality fruit throughout the state, and the prediction is that the potential for fantastic, complex wines is high. There was tremendous variability up and down (as well as across) the state. An uneven growing season, with uneven effects throughou ...