A photo from Wines of Ukraine, showing a big Ukrainian flag ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ, flying over a lush green landscape with rows of vineyards.

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ Interesting & Innovative Wine Regions of Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

A general overview of all wine regions ๐Ÿงญ, PGIs & PDOs ๐Ÿท, with a focus on Zakarpattia ๐Ÿž, the Northern Regions ๐ŸŒฟ & the Black Sea Region ๐ŸŒ… including Prydunaiska Bessarabia & Lake Yalpuh.

โ€œUkrainian wine should be known all over the world, not only as a product but also as a cultural phenomenon.โ€
(โœ Arsen Fedosenko, 1977-2024, photographer ๐Ÿ“ธ, sommelier ๐Ÿท, winemaker ๐Ÿšœ - and โ€œHero of Freedomโ€ ๐Ÿช–)

Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ has been in the global news headlines a lot recently. Unfortunately, mainly for all the wrong reasons. We decided to write about Ukraine to highlight the bravery and ingenuity of the agriculture industry ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’›. And while the agricultural sector is huge and diverse ๐Ÿšœ, weโ€™re mainly interested in a fairly small, but growing and very dynamic area: Ukrainian Wine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿท.

Logo of the Ukrainian Wine Company in UK.

Looking for a shortcut or prefer to drink along while learning dry facts about wine history and regional climates? Head to the Ukrainian Wine Company ๐Ÿ›’. They work with winemakers in Ukraine ๐Ÿค and offer plenty of tasty bottles in their online shop ๐Ÿ‘. We ourselves have teamed up with them to organise our private tasting and discovered a lot of exciting wines through them. ๐Ÿ˜
In the post about our tasting ๐Ÿท, we also tell why we wanted to learn more about Ukrainian wine in the first place. It all goes back to a trip to Ukraine in 2001, the friendly people & amazing hospitality we experienced there. ๐Ÿ˜Š

๐Ÿฝ๏ธ And if you want to pair Ukrainian wine with Ukrainian food in London ๐Ÿ“, we cannot recommend the excellent Mriya Neo Bistro on Old Brompton Road enough! ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿณ

๐Ÿ“œ History of Wine in Ukraine

Many people have probably heard that Georgia ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช traces back its traditional winemaking history to a time when vines were not commonly grown in many other places around the world at all. ๐Ÿบ

Given the fairly close proximity to Ukraine ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ, it might not surprise that Ukrainian winemaking history also stretches back thousands of years. ๐Ÿ’ก

Over the past hundred years or so, the history of winemaking in Ukraine can perhaps best described as a rollercoaster ๐ŸŽข with various Russian and Soviet regimes either boosting or disrupting production. ๐Ÿ“‰

Since the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, winemaking has gradually become a growing industry again ๐Ÿ“ˆ. This fairly recent development was helped by changes in local laws around 2006 โš–๏ธ. The new situation inspired people ๐ŸŽ‰ to open up new wineries ๐Ÿชด, experiment with different grape varieties ๐Ÿ‡ and techniques & produce some truly oustanding and unique wines ๐Ÿท.

Wine ageing in oak barrels at Stakhovsky Wines.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of wine ageing in oak barrels from Facebook: Stakhovsky Wines, 2 Oct 2023.)

Promoting these transformative changes, Wines of Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ have taken on the task to tell the world about what the country has to offer ๐Ÿ“ข.

Modern Ukrainian winemakers focus on quality in combination with a curiosity to try out new ideas and blends, while building on its historic roots and local grape varieties ๐Ÿ‡.

Modern winemaking equipment at Beykush Winery.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of modern winemaking equipment from Facebook: Beykush Winery, 23 Sep 2023.)

๐Ÿ“ Modern Ukrainian Wine Regions

Ukraine is a big country with different landscapes and and climates. Many wine producers are located in the South along the Black Sea Coast. However, vineyards have also been planted in inland areas. Even some regions that traditionally have not been known much for winemaking in the centre of the country become increasingly more attractive for wine growing due to global warming.

๐Ÿ—บ Regional Overview

To get a general overview of Ukrainian wine, it is probably best focus on the modern geographic wine regions promoted by Wines of Ukraine ๐Ÿ—บ.

Map of Ukrainian wine regions provided by "Wines of Ukraine" ๐Ÿ—บ.

(Map from Wines of Ukraine: Regions.)

  • Zakarpattia (north-west)
  • Western Regions
  • Northern Regions
  • Central Regions
  • Eastern Regions
  • Black Sea Region (south-west)

We will focus on just three of them, mainly because we already tasted wines from those areas: Zakarpattia ๐Ÿž, Northern Regions ๐ŸŒฟ & Black Sea Region ๐ŸŒ….
We will go through them roughly in clockwise order, starting in the north-west of Ukraine.

The Black Sea Region and Zakarpattia are the two most important areas right now ๐Ÿš›. The Northern Regions are gaining some traction due to climate change ๐ŸŒก and entrepreneurial spirit ๐Ÿ‘ท.

Photo of Chateau Chizay's main building, looking just like you imagine a chateau to look.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of Chateau Chizay from BRAND UKRAINE/ukraine.ua: Ukrainian wine.)

๐Ÿ—‚ Current Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs)

In contrast to many European wine producing countries ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ with large, complex systems and regulations of geographic indications ๐Ÿ˜ตโ€๐Ÿ’ซ, Ukraine is curently working on structuring its modern wine regions, which means that everything is still moving and developing ๐Ÿง.

Surprisingly, we did not find an up-to-date article online that lists them all ๐Ÿ˜ฑ, so we looked into the official register to find out what the situation actually is. Not all registrations included a Latin transliteration, so when writing the names in English, you might come across some minor variations in spellings ๐Ÿ˜•.

As of October 2024 ๐Ÿ“…, the State Register of Ukraine managed by the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO) ๐Ÿข lists 11 protected geographical indications (PGIs & PDOs) for wine ๐Ÿท. However, only 6 of them actually refer to Ukrainian regions ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ and they were all granted between 20 Dec 2023 and 24 Jul 2024, so all fairly new ๐Ÿšจ.

๐Ÿ“ The 3 generic PGIs roughly from north to south are:

  • ะ—ะะšะะ ะŸะะขะขะฏ or Zakarpattia
    (2024, also โ€œTranscarpathiaโ€ and โ€œะ—ะะšะะ ะŸะะขะกะฌะšะ• ะ’ะ˜ะะžโ€/โ€œTranscarpathian Wineโ€, registration number 3129)
  • ะะจะ-ะะ‘ะะ“ or Asha-Abag
    (2023, also โ€œAcha-Abagโ€ registration number 3126)
  • ะŸั€ะธะดัƒะฝะฐะนััŒะบะฐ ะ‘ะตััะฐั€ะฐะฑั–ั or Prydunaiska Bessarabia
    (2023, also โ€œDanube/Danubian Bessarabiaโ€, registration number 3127)

Within the PGI system there is also a stricter category of PGIs called Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) that usually applies to a smaller region.

๐Ÿ“ There are 3 PDOs registered with generally higher quality requirements, also roughly ordered from north to south:

So far, all these PDOs are in the Odesa subregion ๐ŸŒ…. Surely, this is just the first step. As Ukraine is right now building up its modern geographic wine classification ๐Ÿ—‚, we expect this list to evolve and get longer over time. And while some of those PGIs and PDOs might not yet be on all the labels right now ๐Ÿ†•, weโ€™re pretty sure they will be adopted quickly for new vintages ๐Ÿท.

๐Ÿž Zakarpattia

Starting in the north-west, Zakarpattia connects Ukrainian winemaking ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ to other Central and Eastern European ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ wine regions and traditions such as Tokaj ๐Ÿฏ primarily in Hungary ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ, but maybe less well known, also stretching into Slovakia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ. The Zakarpattia wine region is heavily influenced by the Carpathian Mountains ๐Ÿž with sun-drenched slopes ๐Ÿ”†, natural protection against cold weather โ„๏ธ, unique microclimates and nutrient-rich, porous volcanic soils ๐ŸŒ‹.

Vineyards of Chateau Chizay in Zakarpattia, Ukraine.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of vineyards in the Zakarpattia region from BRAND UKRAINE/ukraine.ua: Ukrainian wine / Chateau Chizay: About us.)

๐Ÿšœ Notable winemakers in Zakarpattia:

๐ŸŒฟ Northern Regions

Photo of newly planted vineyards at BIOLOGIST Winery.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of newly planted vineyards from Facebook: Biologist Wine Company, 04 Feb 2023, taken by ะŸะตั€ัˆะธะน ะ’ะธะฝะฝะธะน.)

Moving east towards the center of the country ๐Ÿงญ, we find the Northern Regions as an emerging area for innovative winemakers ๐Ÿ’ก with a relatively moderate continental climate ๐ŸŒฆ but high risks of frost in winter ๐Ÿฅถ.

In particular, we want to highlight the impressive efforts of BIOLOGIST Winery (ะบั€ะฐั„ั‚ะพะฒะฐ ะฒะธะฝะพั€ะพะฑะฝั ะฟั–ะด ะšะธั”ะฒะพะผ) developing sustainable, low-intervention, biodynamic winemaking ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐ŸŒพ.

Despite being located near Kyiv in the Northern Regions, they also use grapes from the Odesa region in southern Ukraine ๐ŸŒ…. But now, at least in part influenced by climate change and global warming ๐ŸŒก๏ธ, they are working to expand their vineyards around Kyiv and further increase production with locally grown grapes ๐Ÿ“ˆ.

๐ŸŒ… Black Sea Region

Next we head straight south ๐Ÿงญ and look at probably today the largest and most productive wine-growing area in Ukraine, the Black Sea Region ๐ŸŒ…. Wine has been made in this area since ancient times when Greeks and later Trypillian civilizations spread across this part of Ukraine ๐Ÿ›๏ธ.

Stretching along the Black Sea coast, this wine region offers diversity with continental and maritime climates and boasts a large number of winemakers ๐Ÿ‘ฅ across all its subregions.

The furthest east is Kherson, which is partly occupied since 2022.

The first subregion we want to focus on is the one west of Kherson and right by the Black Sea, Mykolaiv ๐ŸŒŠ. While the region also has vineyards further inland, the remarkable Beykush Winery produces a wide range of different wines of all styles here surrounded by water in the Dnieperโ€“Bug estuary. We particularly like their experiments with different types of concrete eggs and amphorae, reviving and reinterpreting the wine-growing heritage of this area.

Photo of vineyards from Beykush Winery.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of vineyards in the Mykolaiv region from Beykush Winery.)

Moving west along the Black Sea coast ๐Ÿงญ, the Odesa region is home to most Ukrainian wine producers. Over 100 wineries take advantage of the climate dominated by milder winters and hot dry summers ๐ŸŒค, offering favourable wine-growing conditions ๐Ÿ‡.

๐Ÿšœ Notable winemakers in the Odesa subregion:

Photo of vineyards of Villa Tinta in foreground with Lake Yalpuh in the background.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of vineyards from Instagram: villa_tinta_winery, 15 Dec 2020.)

Especially the far south-western corner called Prydunaiska Bessarabia or Danube Bessarabia is a literal hot bed of Ukrainian wine production โ˜€๏ธ. A couple of wineries in the region are using the shores of the largest natural freshwater lake in the country, Lake Yalpuh or Yalpug, to grow their vines. To the west and south, Danube Bessarabia shares borders with Moldova ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ & Romania ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด.

๐Ÿšœ Notable winemakers in Danube Bessarabia, part of the Odesa subregion:

๐Ÿ“ธ The Power of Pictures - a Tribute to Arsen Fedosenko

Wine as a product is always closely connected to a particular location ๐Ÿž๏ธ. What makes up that location including a wide range of environmental factors is often also summarised with the concept of โ€œterroirโ€ ๐ŸŽ“.

It can be difficult to clearly describe and communicate what makes a place so special. Often, it is much easier to give an impression of an area with photos ๐Ÿ“ธ of a vineyard ๐ŸŒฟ, the surrounding landscape ๐Ÿž, the grapes ๐Ÿ‡, the winemakers ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐ŸŒพ and the production facilities โš—๏ธ.

Photo of sunset over Beykush vineyards by Arsen Fedosenko.

(๐Ÿ“ท Photo of sunset over Beykush vineyards from Facebook: Beykush Winery, 10 Jun 2024 by Arsen Fedosenko.)

Images are a powerful way to communicate. When we prepared our private wine tasting and researched Ukrainian wine ๐Ÿ”Ž, we regularly came across photos by one particular photographer: Arsen Fedosenko.
He worked with a wide range of wineries across all of Ukraine and was on an enormous mission ๐Ÿ“ธ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ:

โ€œI want the world to fall in love with Ukrainian wine through art photography.โ€
(โœ Arsen Fedosenko, 1977-2024, photographer ๐Ÿ“ธ, sommelier ๐Ÿท, winemaker ๐Ÿšœ - and โ€œHero of Freedomโ€ ๐Ÿช–)

It is amazing to see how he captured Ukrainian winemaking with stunning, impressive and creative photos ๐Ÿ‘. So it was sad to learn that he was killed in the war, right around the same time when we first discovered his photos.

Portraits of Arsen Fedosenko.

"Captain Arsen Fedosenko, a photographer for the Media Center of the UAF Strategic Communications Department, died at the front on June 10, reports the UAF StratCom."
(Institute of Mass Information, Kyiv, 11 Jun 2024: Military photographer Arsen Fedosenko killed in combat)

This loss has been noticed in the wine world. In the internationally renowned wine publication Decanter he is described as:

โ€talented photographer, designer and artist, as well as a passionate wine enthusiast and aspiring winemakerโ€
(Decanter: Ukrainian wine photographer Arsen Fedosenko dies in war, June 2024)

A collage of 5 vineyard and grape photos by Arsen Fedosenko.

On the Wine Travel Awards (WTA) website, he wrote in his own words:

โ€œThe main goal of my project is to restore viticulture throughout Ukraine. For me, viticulture and winemaking is a way to change the paradigm of the consumer to the paradigm of the creator. Grapes have a magical ability to fill places with new meaning, to be a stimulus for the economy and tourism. Wine is a product of the area, so it is always unique.โ€
(โœ Arsen Fedosenko, 1977-2024, photographer ๐Ÿ“ธ, sommelier ๐Ÿท, winemaker ๐Ÿšœ - and โ€œHero of Freedomโ€ ๐Ÿช–)

We have never met him. But we understood more about Ukrainian wines and vineyards ๐Ÿ‡ through his eyes, through his photos ๐Ÿ“ธ. We like to think that he would be happy to know that his work continues to have an impact and his photos are being used to help people learn more about Ukraine, its wines, its people and its culture.

Making the world aware of what is happening in Ukraine ๐Ÿคฌ, every day, and how it affects ordinary lives is one of the reasons why we think now is the time to discover and drink Ukrainian wine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ.

Most, if not all winemakers, businesses and families in Ukraine are going through unimaginably difficult times ๐Ÿ˜ฅ. Recognising this and supporting the whole country ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’› during this time is a key motivation for us to taste, explore and promote Ukrainian wine ๐Ÿท.

(๐Ÿ“ท Cover photo from Wines of Ukraine.)

๐Ÿ”— Learning More & Tasting Ukrainian Wine

If you are curious to explore Ukrainian wine in more detail and find out how you can get your hands on some bottles to taste and experience the full range of styles and flavours, you can read about our private tasting โ€œ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’› Sipping & Supporting Ukrainian Wine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿทโ€ that we organised with support and guidance from UK-based Ukrainian wine expert Sera ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ”ฌ & the Ukrainian Wine Company ๐Ÿ›’.

If you would like to organise a Ukrainian or other wine tasting for your friends, business partners or colleagues ๐Ÿพ, please get in touch ๐Ÿ‘‹.
We are more than happy to organise a tasting for you & with you. ๐Ÿ“‘
We provide expert guidance on themes, topics, wines & venues. ๐Ÿ’ก


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First published in November 2024.