Ukrainian Bessarabia’s Wine and Taste Route #161
Discover the first Ukrainian enogastronomic route
The first Ukrainian enogastronomic route – the Ukrainian Bessarabia’s Wine and Taste Route – has been created with the support of the EU project “Supporting development of the system of Geographical Indications in Ukraine”. The main goals are to preserve the historical, cultural, ethnographic, enogastronomic environment of the “Ukrainian Bessarabia”, support and popularize local producers, and enhance the region’s tourist and investment attractiveness.
The participants include producers of local wines and traditional food products, catering centers, tasting halls, enotecas, hotels, educational establishments, and tourist operators of Odessa Region. The length of the route exceeds 900 kilometers.
The route runs through the southwestern parts of Odessa Region and covers four destinations: Odessa-Shabo-Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky; Odessa-Frumushikka-Nova-Lisne; Izmail-Krynychne-Bolhrad; Tatarbunar-Strumok-Prymorske-Vilkove.
The delicious Ukrainian Bessarabia
Each of the region’s tourist locations can submit to the project organizers its proposal to indicate it on the Wine and Taste Route, if such location meets the basic requirements: legitimate business and high level of service. The project organizers have assumed the obligation to meet the European standards for ensuring the quality of tourist services and food safety – each in its respective field of operations.
When traveling along the route, the participants can taste wines, delicious cheeses, meat delicacies, bread, as well as visit the region’s natural and historical tourist attractions, and have a rest in hotels. It should be emphasized that in addition to tastings, the winemakers and farmers offer panoramic walks, participation in grape harvesting, bike rides, etc.
The project participants: the best wines, local specialties, the Guinness Book of World Records …
The Ukrainian Bessarabia’s Wine and Taste Route brings together more than 30 locations. The majority of such locations operate throughout the year, and include:
– Shabo Wine Culture Center, which is the only Ukrainian wine production complex that has a House of Sparkling Wines and Wine Culture Center. Here, tours are organized for tourists, and they are able to see the production facilities, and participate in tastings;
– Kolonist winery, which was created by the Plachkov family in 2005. The name originates from the Bulgarian colonists who settled on this territory (the southwestern part of Odessa Region) in XIX century, whose descendants are the winery’s owners. During the festival of young wine, you can join the grape harvesting here;
– Frumushika-Nova recreation complex produces wines, offers products from its sheep farm, has an ethnographic open-air museum, and hotel. The pride of the complex is a statue of shepherd, which was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s highest granite statue of shepherd (17.94 m);
– Eco-farm “Snails of Bessarabia”, which is the only farm in Bessarabia, growing Helix Aspersa Muller snails.
– “Hlibna-Kyshta” (Bread House), where Tetiana Dukova bakes bread according to the 200-year-old traditional recipe.
The Wine and Taste Route has many interesting locations, but it is better to visit them personally in order to feel, taste, and admire this land, as well as incorporate cultural peculiarities of the peoples living here – primarily, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Moldavian, Gagauz, and Lipovan.
