Wine Digest (December 3)

Federal Self-Regulating Organization (FSRO) of winegrowers and winemakers will be established to take over regulation of the industry

According to amendments of July 2021 to Federal Law No. 468 "On Viticulture and Winemaking," a significant part of the powers for state regulation in this area will be transferred to the FSRO – for example, setting additional product quality standards, and developing and issuing quality certificates for licensing wine with a Protected Geographical Indication (“ZGU” in Russian) or Protected Appellation of Origin (“ZNMP” in Russian). The board of the new organization will consist of 10 people – officials and top managers of big wineries. Dmitry Kiselev, a journalist and chairman of the Union of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia, was elected Executive Secretary of the board. Read the original news in Russian.

Russian Wine Awards wine list competition – 2021 results announced

About 300 restaurants and wine bars from Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus took part in the fourth annual wine list competition. The members of the expert jury awarded the wine lists of the best food and drink venues from one to three stars in eight categories. There were two new categories added this year: “Best Pizzeria Wine List” and “Best Choice of Riesling in Regional Restaurants”. For a complete list of winners, follow the link.

Photo: © Anastasiia Krutota/Unsplash

Roskachestvo presented its rating of the best Russian wines

This is the fourth annual wine guide from Roskachestvo. This year 610 wines were evaluated, which had been purchased in retail stores for between 200 and 1000 rubles. First place among dry red wines was taken by a Krasnodar wine, "Cru Lermont Saperavi" from Fanagoria, and the winner among dry whites was Crimean, "Aligote" from Inkerman. Some of the experts noticed that the mean score of the Roskachestvo guide is diminishing from year to year. You can familiarize yourself with the results of the competition in Russian by following the link.

Wine brand "Vysokiy Bereg" has launched a collaboration with the football club CSKA

Elements of the “Vysokiy Bereg” brand design are already being used in the decoration of the club’s stadium. The brand belongs to the Krasnodar company Kuban-Vino, which also plans to launch a special wine range in honor of CSKA’s 110th anniversary as part of this new cooperation. Kuban-Vino is not the only wine producer supporting Russian football – Abrau-Durso has already begun to sponsor the Novorossiysk team Chernomorets. Read the statement of "Vysokoiy Bereg" about the launch of this project in Russian.

Photo: © Kuban -Vino

Dagestan harvested a record 218 thousand tons of grapes, which is 10 thousand tons more than in 2020

Nevertheless, the Dagestan Ministry of Agriculture and Food emphasized that “the year was extremely difficult, as there were prolonged heavy rains during the grape harvest, which created considerable difficulties.” The Regional Ministry of Agriculture highlights that Dagestani viticulture has been developing rapidly in recent years thanks to active government support. Currently, there are 26.4 thousand hectares planted with vines in Dagestan, 22.4 of which are fruit-bearing. Read the original news in Russian.

"Abrau-Durso" won two medals at the “Champagne & Sparkling Wine World” international competition

Abrau-Durso has become the only Russian winery to receive medals at this international wine competition. The wines “Victor Dravigny Brut 2017” and “Brut d'Or Blanc de Blancs 2018” were awarded gold and silver medals, respectively. In total, there were more than 1000 wine samples from 19 countries participating in the competition tastings. Read the original news in Russian.

Cover photo: © Lasseter Winery/Unsplash.