Shining in London: Ukraine is one of the newsmakers of the London Wine Fair.

United Kingdom

In May 2023, London, which is rightly considered the “world capital”, attracted the attention of the international media: a week ago millions of people around the world watched the coronation of King Charles and the celebration of this important event, and already this week London welcomed the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived here on an official visit. On the same day, May 15, another important event started in London: the London Wine Fair, a grand international wine expo, and we are happy to note that Ukraine, once again, has become one of the fair’s newsmakers. For the second time in a row, Ukrainian wines are presented at LWF, also under the long-awaited Wines of Ukraine brand!

 

Ukrainian producers showcase their best still and sparkling wines from unique local and European grape varieties which have received a very warm welcome from local importers and distributors. The Wines of Ukraine stand at London Wine Fair will present the following wineries:

46 Parallel Wine Group (Odessa region)

Beykush Winery (Mykolayiv region)

Biologist Craft Winery (Kyiv region)

Bolgrad / Alcoline (Odesa region)

Chateau Chizay (Transcarpathian region)

Father’s Wine VB (Ternopil region) 

Graevo (Zaporizhzhya region)

My Wine by Eduard Gorodetsky (Odesa region)

Stakhovsky Wines (Transcarpathian region)

Villa Tinta (Odesa region / Southern Bessarabia).

“The interest in Ukraine and Ukrainian wines at the London Wine Fair is extraordinary, we have a lot of work at our stand. We are glad to have the opportunity to communicate with experts and buyers not only from the UK, but also from other countries. We hope to expand exports, to find new partners and distributors. We are very happy that the quality and unique nature of Ukrainian wines are admired by specialists. I am once again proud of our team, all the winemakers, and grateful to them and to our Ukrainian colleagues who came from all around the UK to support us and to work at our stand. I am proud of Ukraine, Ukrainians and Ukrainian wines. We love our country infinitely, and we are and will be doing our best to make people of the world love our wines!” comments Svitlana Tsybak, representative of Wines of Ukraine, head of the Association of Craft Winemakers of Ukraine and development director for Beykush Winery.

SHABO family winery, one of Ukraine’s flagship wineries and the winner of the Wine Travel Awards in the Brand – the visiting card of the country category, will also present their wines at their own stand.

Wines of Ukraine are participating in this year’s LWF due to the kind support of Mr Yevgeny Chichvarkin, investor at Hedonism Wines –  a fine wine, whisky & spirits boutique located in the heart of London’s Mayfair. “Ukraine has a wonderful climate, fertile soils, and hardworking people. Apart from a few moments of legislative deregulation and organisational issues, nothing prevents Ukraine from taking its rightful place on the world wine map. Unfortunately, I cannot influence the legislation of Ukraine, but I am happy to contribute to the speedy search for a distribution channel in the UK,” comments Mr. Chichvarkin. 

The London based entrepreneur is a great supporter of Ukraine in its fight for freedom and independence. Evgeny Chichvarkin has financed more than £4.5 million worth of medical purchases for the Ukrainian people subjected to Vladimir Putin’s illegal war. In March 2022, he launched the EC Project, where others were invited to join his efforts and cover large invoices for the purchase of medical aid. 

Drinks + and the Wines of Ukraine team express their deep gratitude to Evgeny for supporting Ukraine and the participation of Wines of Ukraine in the London Wine Fair!

Ukrainian wines will also be showcased at a walk-around tasting, which will be held during the Wine Travel Awards 2023 awarding ceremony. This event, which marks the second successful year of our innovative project in the field of wine travel marketing, will take place on May 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: 30 in the Industry Briefing Room at the London Wine Fair.

The wines of the Ukrainian WTA 2023 winners – SHABO, Big Wines / Vinos de la Luz (sponsor of the WTA Wine & Food Influencer category) and Beykush Winery – will be presented at the tasting: SHABO Reserve Telti-Kuruk 2022, SHABO Limited Edition Saperavi-Merlot (by Kachetin technology) 2020, Big Wines Big Art 2020, and Beykush Telti Kuruk 2022. The tasting also includes wines from WTA winners from Armenia, Argentina, Georgia, Spain and Italy. This will be one of the largest round tastings held by WTA.

The Drinks+ team would also like to express their sincere gratitude to Tanya Olevska, who is the founder of the Friends Wine Travel company, the winner of this year’s WTA and an employee of the London Wine Fair, and to her colleagues for prompt and friendly assistance in solving logistical problems with the delivery of our prizes and catalogues from Germany, as well as wines from Ukraine. United we stand!

Author: Victoria Makarova