From Vodka to Vintages – the politics of wine and the Russian wine business

Wine has been made in the former Soviet Union for as long as any of the other classic wine growing regions and in such a vast area it’s hardly surprising that some excellent growing conditions exist. During the Soviet era, however, although large production volumes were encouraged quality was not considered a high priority. Wines from the iron curtain countries in general, and from Russia in particular, tended to be rather bland poor quality products distinguished principally by being cheap to buy.

In the cold war era, for example, part of Russia’s anti-capitalist propaganda campaign was to boast that in Russia every worker could drink champagne unlike in the west where champagne was something only the bourgeois could afford! Although this was partly true, if you have ever tasted Russian champagne, as I have, then you will know that there is absolutely no comparison to quality champagne, cheap champagne or even Cava!

Since the fall of communism, however, the wine industry in Russia is having something of a renaissance, although the progress is not coming without a price. A few years ago, the average Russian winery was fifty years behind the rest of Europe in technological terms, but with the trade walls coming down, they have been playing catch-up very quickly.

Making good wine is only half the battle though; as well as the wine making equipment being a long way behind the rest of the world, the reputation of Russian wine is still further behind. In fact, so bad is the perception of Russian wine that even in Russia, customers will pay a considerable premium for imported wines from France, Italy, and even Moldova.

Still, there is something of a reprieve for the Russian producers in the continued absence from the domestic market of wines from Georgia. Considerably further south than Russia, Georgia has fantastic growing conditions and their wines are extremely popular in Russia itself. Since Russia intervened on behalf of the province of South Ossetia in a revolution, relations between the two countries have been very poor, and Russia has banned imports of Georgian goods.

If nothing else good comes of such a situation, it is at least a chance for Russian wineries to establish their higher quality products whilst a big slice of the competition is missing. For those of us in the rest of the world, Russian wines might still be something of a mystery but now that they have embraced new technology and shifted the focus from quantity to quality Russian wine might well be the next big thing – so watch this space!

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