A Look At The Wine From Crimea

Crimean Winery Hopes to Benefit From Russian Annexation -- Voice of America 

WASHINGTON — Many Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation in the hope of improving their well-being.

Ukraine's crumbling economy has hurt businesses throughout the country, while Russia has accumulated considerable wealth through its energy sales.

One Crimean winery's management hopes it will benefit from the region's annexation by Russia.

The Crimean peninsula may be best known for its Black Sea coast with beautiful beaches and naval ports, but the region's main industry is food production, including a centuries-old tradition of wine making.

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My Comment: Russian/Crimean wine is unique .... but if given the support it should succeed.

Is Beer Food?

Beer Now Considered Alcohol, Not Food, In Russia As New Restrictions Take Hold -- NBC 

It will be tougher for Russians to cry in their beer in 2013. Restrictions on when and where beer can be sold go into effect Jan. 1 with a law that declared beer is alcohol, not food. Under the new rules, beer can only be sold in licensed outlets — not street kiosks, gas stations and bus depots like it has been. Russians won't be able to buy it from shops between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m., and beer commercials are a thing of the past. The limits are part of a government effort to reduce alcohol abuse in Russian, where one in five male deaths are linked to booze, according to world health experts. Not everyone is toasting the change, however.

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My Comment: My dad (who is Russian and when he was alive loved beer) always treated beer as food.

A Look At Russian Wine

Russian Wine For Investors - Bottle Half-Full, Or Half-Empty?

If wine were an investment, like company shares, gold, or real estate, then you would expect the Russian oligarchs to put their hands into this particular till. But hobby vineyards and French chateaux aside, there haven’t been many. Still, Vadim Varshavsky’s Croizet cognac (Charente) has not proved to be as ill-fated as his steel business. Eugene Shvidler’s Chateau Thenac (Bergerac) is doing better than that with a range of wines selling for as little as £7.95, but as a business among Shvidler’s holdings it’s still small beer.

Thinking less of price than rate of return, the value of wine over the past decade has generated 15% per annum growth, according to the Liv-Ex fine Wine Index. That’s equal to gold, but much, much better than stocks. Of course, most of the contents of wine caves is drunk, not traded. So the rate of return is a nominal one. That may be why wine doesn’t meet the swift payback standard of the Russian oligarchs, and why they haven’t taken positions in the Russian wine business as they have in pigs, fish, grain, farm land and fertilizers.

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My Comment: My nationality is Russian .... so I have had my taste of Russian wine. What's my take ... the sparkling wines are OK, but the reds still have a long way to go.

A Look At Russia's Wine Industry

RUSSIA: Domestic Wine Producers Hail Record Harvest -- Just Drinks

Russia’s wine market will continue to grow this year, helped by a record grape harvest and support from the country’s authorities, according to a new report.

The study, unveiled at the London International Wine Fair today (22 May), said a record harvest of grapes last year – more than 400,000 tonnes – means winemakers will “gradually discontinue” importing raw materials and use their own. Russia has around 60 wineries that produce wine from home-grown grapes. Around another 150 wineries use imported grapes. Russia has around 70,000 hectares of vineyards in total.

However, the report suggests that imports of wine will also increase in “the coming years”.

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My Comment: They have the soil and sunshine .... bit what they lack is expertise.