Beyond the Carpathians: Chris Boiling’s Wine Odyssey in Zakarpattia
Wine writer, winemaker, and WTA nominee in the Expert Opinion category, Chris Boiling, recently returned from the little-known wine region of Zakarpattia in western Ukraine.
This journey was part of his #harvest24 adventure, during which he produced a rosé in Hungary, crafted a sulphite-free sparkling wine in Slovenia, and fermented a red wine from the ancient Pugnitello grape in Italy, before finally arriving in Zakarpattia to make a white wine!
This Ukrainian wine region is 90 km northeast of Tokaj, Hungary’s most famous wine town, and, as Chris shared, just a €6.40 train ride across the Tisza River.
Zakarpattia translates as ‘Transcarpathian’ or ‘beyond the Carpathians’. It borders four countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
Over the last century it has been ruled by Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Ukraine. In the Soviet era, it was designated as a “land of orchards and vineyards”, but most of the vines were uprooted during Mikhail Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign in the mid-1980s.
Someone might think that making wine in Ukraine currently is quite challenging and risky. However, Chris points out that it’s one of the safest regions in Ukraine.
In the wineries he visited, he saw grape varieties that he knows from Hungary – Királyleányka, Hárslevelű, Cserszegi Fűszeres, Szerémi Zöld, Furmint, Zenit, and Olaszrizling (Welschriesling). He also spotted tanks labelled Traminer, Muscat, Chasselas, Riesling, Regent, Solaris, Müller-Thurgau, and Saperavi, and barrels filled with Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zweigelt.
For his wine project, which grape did he decide on? The choice was the indigenous Bakator, noted for its disease resistance and the production of white wines with low alcohol content and a strong acid structure. He is producing the wine in collaboration with the boutique Sass K Winery, led by Krisztián Sass and his grandfather, Károly.
At the moment, it looks as if the wine is going to be a blend of whole-bunch pressed and skin-contact Bakator, and a co-fermentation of Bakator and 5% of the extremely rare Szerémi Zöld.
“It was a very interesting trip to a wine region with great potential. The Bakator grape deserves to be more widely known,” Chris said.
Looking at the beautiful pictures Chris took during this trip, they capture the life of a whole generation of Ukrainian winemakers and wine enthusiasts who choose every day to continue their craft, hoping one day to taste the great results of their efforts.
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