Small But Mighty
Small But Mighty. In Forbes' Ukraine Is A Small But Mighty Market For Wine, Lana Bortolot writes about the history of the country’s winemaking, including the shift in focus from producing semi-sweet and dessert wines to “western-style dry wines.” According to the article, Ukraine is home to more than 50 winemakers cultivating 180 grape varieties in the main wine-growing provinces, or “oblasts,” of Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odessa. Sparkling wine represents about one-third of Ukraine’s production, and accounts for 34% of the country’s exports.
When it comes to natural wines, the article mentions Biologist, a craft winery in Kyiv, whose website says they “challenge the stereotypes of Ukrainian winemaking and resort to the ancient traditions.” More information on the winery can be found in Drinks+, a Ukrainian magazine about wine, gastronomy, and traveling.
Kyiv For Wine Lovers. Each year, wine writer Jancis Robinson hosts an annual writing competition, and in 2019, one of the entries was “Kyiv for wine lovers” by Yulja Kryvoshei. The essay was republished a few days ago, prefaced by a recent message from the author, about how she had just returned from Paris Vinexpo “full of ideas and plans to bring great new wines” to the Ukrainian market, but how everything has since changed.
Kryvoshei's August 2019 essay provides an overview of the Ukraine capital’s wine scene, and the steps they had been taking “towards regaining its place on Europe’s wine map.”
Any wine-minded traveller is eager to try something local, something they never tasted before which, for most people, pretty much covers all Ukrainian wine. Even though Eastern Europe has recently been drawing more of [the] wine world’s attention, in most cases it is limited to Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Moldova, even though Ukrainian winemaking is by no means devoid of the originality and diversity that ‘New Europe’ is commonly appreciated for.
At the time, Kryvoshei wrote that “a definite must-try” is Telti Kuruk, a Ukrainian indigenous variety from Shabo in the Odessa region, a grape used to produce white wine.
The Business of Curating Natural Wine. In VinePair’s Meet the Importer: Jenny & Francois Selections Expands the World of Natural Wine, readers are invited to learn more about U.S. natural wine importer Jenny & Francois Selections, who began importing natural, biodynamic, and organic wines in 2000.
Founder Jenny Lefcourt describes herself as being in the business of curating: “Just as someone would curate a museum exhibit, I curate a portfolio of wines that I believe in.” She goes on to explain how wines are selected:
Once I taste and decide that I like a wine, I visit the winery and meet the grower. I’ve found that the grower always resembles their wine in a way. Natural winemakers have a really strong belief system, and that comes through in the bottle. They respect the earth, they respect their team, and so it shines through in their wines.
J&F’s target customers are those that care about where their wine comes from and how it is made: “People who care about the story of the person making it. It’s a whole package of integrity.”
Lefcourt shares a few of her fave wines from their current portfolio, including Birdscape, a Blaufränkisch from Austria’s Christian Tschida (pronounced “cheetah”), who she describes as “one of the truly best natural winemakers out there” (imported in Ontario by Context Wines); and Milan Nestarec’s Forks and Knives Red, an unfiltered blend of blend of Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, from the young winemaker in the Czech Republic who makes “truly delicious, gulpable wines” (imported in Ontario by The Living Vine).
Here is an occasionally updated list of Ontario importers who specialize in natural and low-intervention wines, brought in through the LCBO’s Consignment Program and Private Order specialty services; their wines can be found at local restaurants and bars and bottle shops, with full and mixed cases available from the importer.