Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Vineyard, Chateau Divnomorskoe, is on the Black Sea, and produces some of Russia’s best, most expensive, and hard to obtain wines. Fortunately I live a block down from St. Petersburg’s oldest and most exclusive wine merchants. This is the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc. Expensive means USD50 a bottle – about 2x the going rate for a decent Russian wine. So what’s it like? Well – excellent. And for fifty bucks better value than many European wines. It’s… dry enough, yet with peaches and almonds, and an excellent wine for fish (salmon is on the grill) or for a late summer evenings tipple. You have to hand it to Tsars, they really do know how to get a lot of things right. Can you imagine Chateau Merkel or Obama? Russian Wines have been doing very well in European competitions recently as well, with Chateau Divnomorskoe winning several awards at a number of competitions
So here’s a tip – if you’re looking for the next big thing, grab a copy of “Russian Wine Country” do some homework on the various estates and availability, and give yourself a treat. Wines are not part of the EU-Russian sanctions so if you look around you should be able to find a merchant who is stocking them. And while you’re about it, check out some Abrau Durso sparkling wines as well. Some of the most exciting wines are coming out of Russia and Eastern Europe, and a whole new world awaits. Go check it out.