Once dominated by French and Italian imports, Russia’s wine shelves are now filled with local vintages. Western sanctions and rising import taxes have reshaped consumer habits, giving rise to a homegrown wine revolution. From the Côte Rocheuse vineyards in Krasnodar to supermarkets in Moscow, Russian wine now makes up 60% of the national market — up from just 25% a decade ago.
Winemakers like Irina Yakovenko say demand is soaring despite limited capacity, while experts note that the 2014 annexation of Crimea gave Russia’s wine industry a powerful boost. As imported wines grow costlier and local pride deepens, more Russians are raising a glass to their own creations — declaring, “Our wines are the best.”
Explore how sanctions turned into opportunity, reshaping taste, trade, and tradition across Russia’s vineyards.
00:57And, accordingly, we can add overripe and underripe berries.
01:02That is, we adjust the airage.
01:12Here for the most detailed analysis of each one.
01:19And accordingly, we also select more.
01:23The clay is
01:27amplified, resulting in a slightly brighter color than if it were simply pressed through,
01:32holding the essence of red wine, rather than taking it for decoration.
01:36You, for example, are from the same barrel.
01:40And why? Because this one turns out to be the most aggressive.
01:55The winery as a legal entity was established in 2010.
02:00From 2011 to 2013, the main grape production took place.
02:06In 2020, we launched production, and we first began working with grapes from seven nine-year-old vines, meaning the vines were already mature.
02:14In 2022, we began selling wine. And in 2022, we opened to tourists.
02:29And since then, we've been increasing production volumes every year, increasing sales for now, but we have a limit both on vineyards and on winemaking capacity.
02:39It's 500,000 bottles per year.
02:44There's a table there, so.
02:47The varieties are mostly classic European.
02:50Well, as they call it now, the European group, er, mostly French.
02:55Merlot, Carbone Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon come from Bordeaux.
03:07Chardin also comes from France, there's Sauvignon Blanc, and, well, also a French grape variety, and Riesling is German.
03:15Oh, and one of our own, Krasnestav Zolotovsky, a Russian grape variety from the Rostov region.
03:22It's necessary to completely transfer this thing to the extractor.
03:26In the main situation, we almost don't have enough space, so the equipment is different.
03:35It's mostly French and Italian, if we're talking about winemaking equipment, like a grape processing line, a sorting table, a de-stemmer, a crusher, a sorter, an optical sorter.
03:45And the tanks are mostly Italian barrels made of 98 or 99% French oak.
03:56But the manufacturers are also varied, mostly French, some Italian, and a few Hungarian.
04:06And we have the most of them, because, as I recall, we have 70% of our red wines.
04:15The winery is new and young, so we're growing geometrically here, both in terms of interest in us, and in terms of recognition, and in terms of sales, naturally, and in terms of production.
04:30Therefore, it's difficult to draw any conclusions from our example, because our story is a little different.
04:37Regarding other wineries, colleagues, of course, there's an understanding that they are also developing, also planting vineyards, expanding production.
04:49Zabinashi.
04:58Zabinashi.
04:59What a light! Everything is fine!
05:04What a light, everything is fine.
05:23In general, I am very glad that our Russian market is developing.
05:26Ah, and it's great that people are starting to appreciate us and pay attention to our
05:31wealth, that we are further promoting it to the masses.
05:35And, of course, yes, foreign, even France, is certainly a brand, it's a classic that
05:43will remain, but I think we can learn a lot from them and develop it in our Russian market.
06:01Tired?
06:02Right?
06:03Yes, yes.
06:04And in general, it's very late.
06:11Look how beautiful.
06:13I want other people to see this, mainly.
06:20German ones, and our wines, because they simply don't know.
06:24You can't buy such wines everywhere.
06:27In fact, you can't buy them in regular stores.
06:31And I want as many of our people as possible to see this beauty.
06:35Of course, Russian, our Russian wines, I think they are no worse.
06:39I don't know and don't want to know any French wines.
06:42Ours are the best.
06:45A land turtle from Nishar.
06:47Ah, so it's always like this.
06:52Yes, there's Shiraz, which is sold in Australia, yes, and then there's the New World.
07:12Winemaking got a big boost when our territory expanded in 2014.
07:17And, ah, Crimea, which came to us and returned to us, it became, ah, well, let's say, winemaking
07:24there, as you know, is probably an industry that has a significant share of the economy.
07:30Yes, if on the scale of Russia, winemaking there, well, its profitability is tiny, then
07:36on the scale of Crimea, it is very significant.
07:38Sangiovese or something like that, right?
07:43So, initially, the SVO introduced an initiative to increase the duty on wine from unfriendly
07:49countries, unfriendly countries.
07:52And this initiative was implemented, one way or another.
07:56Our duties increased.
07:58This happened about a year ago, that is, the law came into force, that is, all this doesn't
08:02happen overnight.
08:03So, and gradually, the market began to change, that is, wine prices began to rise.
08:09Imported wines have probably increased by 30-40%, just like the varieties.
08:14Well, they're simply delicious.
08:16They're simply out of this world.
08:20Our wine has also risen, following import prices, but has remained of the same, or perhaps
08:25even better, quality, and remains slightly cheaper.
08:29This is what has driven the consumer's shift, naturally, the economic mechanism has driven
08:34them to Russian wine, among other things.
08:36I'm simply speaking within the framework of market statistics, perhaps they've had some
08:41effect.
08:42We haven't seen a sharp, avalanche-like increase in wine demand, but we are experiencing a redistribution
08:48within the wine category.
08:50Consequently, we're shifting from imports to Russian wine, to Russian producers.
08:56This includes Krasnastop, yes, and Kakur Kramin White.
09:02Consumers are still just getting used to the Russian wine brand.
09:05And, of course, they're still more accepting of imported wines.
09:10Despite all this, over the past few years, including the impact of Covid and the start of
09:15the special military operation, we've received a very high share of Russian wine.
09:20Now it's estimated to be between 50 and 60 percent there.
09:24Whereas, say, 10 years ago, it was estimated to be around 25 percent.
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