Yaiyla and Belbec wineries in Sevastopol and Balaclava, Crimea. Amazing wine, amazing owners. In a crowded market, the small, specialty, organic wineries are not only surviving, but they are thriving. It’s been a pleasure to get to know them and consider them friends. Crimean, high end wines rival anything in the US, and I think, even France and Italy.
Sanctions and Covid have closed Russian borders to foreigners, but because Russian cannot travel abroad to their favorite spots, they have descended upon Russia in record numbers, and have been discovering the amazing wines, culture, history, and beauty of Crimea.