Domestic wines dominate the Russian market - Western sanctions force Russia to rely on its own production
In the past, supermarket shelves in Russia were dominated by French Burgundy and Italian Barolo, but they are now filled with a range of domestic wines. Western sanctions related to the war in Ukraine have pushed consumers towards local vineyards.
Sanctions imposed after the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine in early 2022 have changed consumption habits in Russia, driving up the prices of foreign wines and limiting the availability of imports. Sales of Russian wines have increased and now account for about 60% of the market, compared to about 25% a decade ago.
"Russian wines have gained a very large share of the Russian market," said Yury Yudich, head of the wine committee, citing higher taxes on countries he calls "hostile." "Gradually, the market began to change and wine prices began to rise. Imported wines became 30-40% more expensive," he added.
In Moscow supermarkets, Russian, Georgian and Armenian wines dominate, where French, Italian and South American brands previously dominated. Western states have imposed more than 25,000 different sanctions on Russia since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, most of them after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Grapes have been cultivated around the Black Sea for thousands of years, but the turmoil of the revolution, the civil war and then the Soviet anti-alcohol campaigns destroyed many vineyards. However, after the economy emerged from the decade of chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, some investors began buying up land in southern Russia and bringing in winegrowers from France and Italy.
"We started selling wine in 2022, and the same year we opened for tourists. Since then, we have increased production volumes every year, and sales are still growing. However, we have a limit on the vineyards and production capacity, about 500,000 bottles per year," said the head of production at the Côte Rocheuse vineyard. The vineyard cultivates classic European grape varieties, such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, but also Krasnostop Zolotovsky, a native grape from the Rostov region. Although they rely mainly on French and Italian equipment, the wines are local, shaped by the Russian soil and climate.
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