When Sergiy Klimov talks about wine, his excitement is contagious even to those with less sophisticated palates.
Since 2014, Krymov has been championing Ukrainian wine in various ways.
He runs a chain of wine bars in the capital Kiev, stocking only Ukrainian wines. He is an ambassador of Ukrainian wine and promotes wine abroad. Now he has his own vineyard in the village of Zarychanka in western Ukraine, where he experiments with viticulture and winemaking processes.
Krymov feels that by sharing Ukrainian wine, he is preserving and building on a tradition that has been tied to the land of his ancestors for thousands of years.
“That became my mission,” he said. “I want to revolutionize the industry.”
Along with neighbors Moldova and Romania, and the wider region of Georgia and Azerbaijan, Ukraine has been a fertile wine-producing region for thousands of years. Archaeological excavations have unearthed ancient Greek wine-making vessels, and other excavations have uncovered fossilized remains of grape species dating back to the 11th to 9th centuries BC.
Perhaps most famously, there were vineyards at the foot of the mountains on the southern side of Crimea. Since Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, many of its vineyards have been lost, in some cases mined and destroyed by the Russian military, said Anna Eugenia Yanchenko, a Ukrainian cultural scientist, sommelier and wine researcher specializing in the history of her country’s wine.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have destroyed many more wineries, including Chateau Klin in the south and Art Winery in the eastern city of Donetsk, Yanchenko said. Vineyards such as Prince Trubetskoy Winery in the south and Wine Idea in the Kiev region experienced periods of occupation.
As a result, the country’s winemaking capacity has been significantly reduced, but Klimov and others are determined to not only survive, but thrive.
Part of their efforts are motivated by a desire to strengthen Ukraine’s national identity in the face of Russia’s efforts to deny its sovereignty.
Janczenko, now based in Warsaw, Poland, says little is known about who first planted grapes in what is now Ukraine thousands of years ago, but what’s important is that it happened and that production continues.
“Since the advent of winemaking, the process of viticulture and wine consumption has never ended here,” she said.
Another champion of the industry is Tania Olevska, who left Ukraine for London in July 2022, five months after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Having worked in the wine industry for several years in her native Ukraine, she decided to set up Ukrainian Wine Company UK, which will focus on importing Ukrainian wine to the UK. She participates in wine fairs and exhibitions that are difficult for Ukraine’s remaining wine producers to access.
“Initially, the wine was rejected,” Olewska said of trying to garner interest. But everything changed after a Ukrainian winemaker sent two cases to be sampled at an event. “In 2023, we had the opportunity to showcase our wines at the London Wine Fair. We had a few winemakers come and there was a lot of interest from the trade side. They loved the wines,” she said.
Klimov, a wine lover, isn’t surprised by that. “Our territory is very unique,” he said, explaining how the diversity of Ukraine’s landscape creates complex and interesting flavors, adding: “We have black soils, limestone, volcanic soils and more than 400 grape varieties.”
Victoria Daskal, a London-based wine writer and educator, said she believed the increase in Ukrainian wine imports into the UK was partly due to war awareness, but also due to the diversity of the UK wine market. “Many wine consumers are generally surprised to learn that Ukraine is a wine-producing country, but they are interested in exploring new regions,” she says.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian winemakers still have a way to go to increase the visibility of their vintages both internationally and domestically.
Both Klimov and Yanchenko explained how the wine industry was restricted during the Soviet era, where quantity was prioritized over quality.
Before that, the Russian Empire’s ineffective efforts against grape phylloxera, an aphid-like pest that feeds on grape roots, led to heavy losses in Ukraine as well as elsewhere in 19th-century Europe. The wine industry has also been affected by uncertainty for a long time. Parts of the country were under the control of invading powers such as Lithuania, Poland, and Russia from the 14th to the 18th centuries, and then fell completely under Russian rule.
In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made everything government-owned. Wine was still produced, but privately owned wineries were destroyed and replaced by mass production with no regard for quality. The reputation of Ukrainian winemaking quickly fell into disrepair, Yanchenko said.
Now in the midst of a new war, Ukraine is committed to preserving its identity as a sovereign nation, but rights groups say Russia is trying to erase that identity in the occupied territories.
This erasure is also a reminder of the Soviet era, when the Moscow regime dominated the historical narrative. “My parents didn’t learn much about the history of our land in school,” Yanchenko said. “We know very little about who we are, but through discoveries such as the true history of winemaking, we are slowly piecing together the picture of who Ukrainians are.”
That may be why Klimov saw an opportunity to involve his neighbors in winemaking and seized it.
“Kiev is the capital of vertical vineyards,” he said, explaining how vines, many of which were planted in the early 20th century, are still growing inside buildings in certain areas of the city.
At the end of 2023, he called on his neighbors to help collect and donate grapes grown on the streets of Kyiv, and quickly collected 200 kilograms (about 440 pounds) of grapes.
The result is 100 bottles of natural, low-intervention wine, bottled and sold with labels designed by Ukrainian artist Waone. “It’s like a work of art that never existed before,” Klimov said.
He said all proceeds from the sale will go to a fund supporting the Ukrainian military.
“It is important to show that Ukraine is a wine country. Ukraine has ancient roots and wine is sold on the streets,” Klimov said, adding that he wants to make this joint effort a tradition.
Yanchenko hopes the work she and Krymov are doing to champion Ukrainian wine at home and abroad will reshape the country’s image.
“By savoring our history, traditions and the uniqueness of our land, it serves as a bridge that connects us with other countries,” she said.
“This is a way to get back to our roots and proudly share what makes Ukraine truly special.”
Despite some people’s doubts, Klimov says some Ukrainians are starting to choose Ukrainian-made products over foreign imports.
Klimov, who has attended wine fairs in Düsseldorf, London and other European cities, said he has also witnessed a change in the tastes of people outside Ukraine, with more people interested in learning about Ukraine’s wine regions.
“People should try Ukrainian wine, not just because of the war, because of this sadness, but because it is a great quality wine and deserves to be on the table,” Olevska said.
Klimov feels that investing his time and expertise in this industry will support the country’s broader war effort.
“When you support the Ukrainian economy, you support Ukrainian culture. This is a very small step that everyone in the world can take for Ukraine.”
