It’s Time To Welcome in a New Phase of Ukrainian Wine: Vyno Ukrainy

Watching the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has left a lot of Americans wondering what they can do to help. Some of us are familiar with the wines made on the Crimean Peninsula, but the influx of wines from Ukraine has been sniffled in past years. No longer is that the case! Welcome in a new phase of access to Ukranian wine. Enter: Vyno Ukrainy. A direct way to support agricultural and cultural movements on the ground in Ukraine that every wine drinker can rally behind.

Today marks the launch of Vyno Ukrainy, a portfolio of craft wines from Ukraine available in the United States. Ukraine!s wine industry has shown great resilience and continues to produce high quality wines despite marking the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2024 with significant damage and destruction to vineyards and wineries across the country.

"Ukrainian wines are steeped in history and a new chapter of diverse terroirs and rediscovery of local grape varieties is being written by Ukraine!s passionate and innovative winemakers,” said Bruce Schneider, founder of Vyno Ukrainy. "I am thrilled to make these wines available in the U.S., where so many people want to show support for the Ukrainian people and their economy.” Schneider's passion for Ukrainian wine was cemented when he embarked there on a solo journey to connect with his family roots. What he discovered there changed the course of his business.

Vyno Ukrainy's inaugural portfolio includes Beykush Winery from the Black Sea Region, as well as Chateau Chizay & Stakhovsky Wines from the Zakarpattia region in Western Ukraine. The wines are available to restaurants and wine shops in NY and NJ via Skurnik Wines and will be in several additional markets in Spring of 2024.

Helping the Ukrainian Wine Industry Rebuild: Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine has destroyed many vineyards and wineries and many need to be de-mined and rebuilt. Among them are Prince Trubetskoi Winery in Kherson, one of the oldest and most historic wineries in Ukraine, which was bombed by Russia early in the war. Thanks to the support of USAID, for the first time in March of 2023, Ukrainian Wineries jointly presented at Prowein, which is one of the leading wine exhibitions in the world. For more information about where to donate to support the rebuilding of Ukraine!s wine industry visit ukr.wine/war.

History of Winemaking in Ukraine: Ukrainian winemaking has ancient roots and began in the territory of modern Ukraine in Neolithic times, during the Trypillian civilization (c. 4800 – 3000 BCE).

With the advent of Soviet rule, private property disappeared, as did entire wine producing regions and producers. During the Soviet era quantity over quality was the priority with a focus on low-quality sweet and fortified wines, and the image and reputation of Ukrainian wines suffered accordingly. In the mid 1980s, a strict anti-alcohol policy led to the destruction of the majority of Ukraine!s historic vineyards. When Ukraine declared independence in 1991, the wine industry started to rebuild and a new wave of winemaking emerged.

In 2014, the Ukrainian wine industry was dealt another great blow when Russia invaded and occupied Crimea, where half of all the vineyards in Ukraine are located. The Ukrainian wine industry persevered, and since 2014, there has been a boom in new family-owned craft wineries with a rediscovery of diverse terroirs and a renewed focus on local grape varieties; this was accelerated in 2018 when longstanding laws that made winery licenses prohibitively expensive were lifted and replaced with modest licensing fees. While today there are only six official wine regions in Ukraine, wine is currently being made in several rediscovered regions, especially in the Northern part of the country. These emerging regions are expected to be officially recognized in the near future.

Visit vynoukrainy.com to learn more, and you can currently find the wines available in New York State & New Jersey. More markets will be available soon!