On November 19, 2023, the VIII International Forum of Winemakers and Sommeliers was held in Kyiv, at the InterContinental Kyiv Hotel (2A Velyka Zhytomyrska St.), within the framework of which the following events took place:
– The jubilee XX All-Ukrainian Sommelier Competition “Master Sommelier – 2022-2023”,
– VII All-Ukrainian Cavist Competition “Best Cavist of Ukraine – 2022-2023”,
– Round table of winemakers and sommeliers as part of the Winemakers’ Dinner,
– Open tastings and presentations of wines, spirits, cheeses and other products for all guests of the events.
Organizers of professional events:
– Ukrainian Association of Winemakers and Sommeliers,
– Association of Cavists of Ukraine,
– The first in Ukraine Master Class Sommelier School.
General Partner – TM “Vinos dela Luz”
Partners: TM Big Wines, SV plus, Poli1898, Delamain, AELRED, Eyguebelle, ACHA, Purity, Zinka, Voda.ua, Cigar House Fortuna, Academy of Labor, Social Relations and Tourism, InterContinental Kyiv Hotel.
Ambassadors of several countries, MPs, the Chairman of the Trade Unions of Ukraine, heads of alcoholic beverage importers, restaurant managers, sommeliers, winemakers, heads of wine companies and wine boutiques, representatives of business structures, media and TV, wine connoisseurs and lovers attended the events.
The Forum opened with a minute of silence in honor of the deceased wine industry professionals who had previously participated in the Forum as participants and jury members.
Then, the anthem of Ukraine was performed live by a young singer Severina.
The professional jury was headed by Dr. Ricardo F. Nunez, owner of the international wine holding VINOS DELA LUZ. For the fourth year in a row, Dr. Nunez has been heading the jury and the Forum of Winemakers and Sommeliers of Ukraine.
Members of the professional jury:
– Natalia Blagopoluchna – President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Winemakers and Sommeliers, head of the First Sommelier School in Ukraine “Master Class”
– Oleksandr Sharay – sommelier, commercial director of SV+ company
– Yegor Bilov – sommelier of the InterContinental Kyiv Hotel, winner of the All-Ukrainian Sommelier Competition 2018
– Oleg Kravchenko – co-owner of Winbar, “Best Sommelier of Ukraine – 2011”
– Olga Girman – sommelier, winner of the All-Ukrainian Sommelier Competition 2021
– Dmytro Gurinchyk – national manager of the Cigar House “Fortuna”
– Irina Kovaleva, Director of the Tairov National Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking.
In the Final of the Contest, the participants competed in different rounds:: “Presentation and decanting of wine”, “Enogastronomy” (real serving of dishes from the chef of the restaurant Ruslan Morozyuk), “Cheese and wine”, “Blind tasting”, “Mixology”, “Cigar Tour”, etc.
In some of the tours, the participants communicated exclusively in English.
After the end of the competitions and the final work of the professional jury, the places were determined as follows:
“XX Anniversary Sommelier Competition 2022-2023”:
1st place – Svyatoslav Klymchuk (Kyiv, Bigoli restaurant)
2nd place – Igor Postoyankin (Kyiv, Catch restaurant)
3rd place – Natalia Sokolovska (Kyiv, DDS company)
“VII All-Ukrainian Cavist Competition 2022-2023”:
1st place – Vasyl Chuchman (Ivano-Frankivsk, Winetime wine boutique)
2nd place – Yevhen Boyko (Kyiv, Winetime wine boutique)
3rd place – Yevhen Brodyuk (Kyiv, Winetime wine boutique)
All finalists received Diplomas and gifts from the Partners, and the Winners received personalized cups.
The Chairman of the Jury Dr. Ricardo F. Nunez congratulated the Organizers and Finalists, thanked the Armed Forces of Ukraine and wished to hold the next Winemakers and Sommeliers Forum in peaceful Ukraine.
The General Information Partner is Interfax Ukraine News Agency.
Media Partners – Club of Experts, OPEN for BUSINESS, Kyiv Diplomatic magazine
EXPERTS CLUB, FORUM, KIEV, ricardo f.nunez, SOMMELIERS, URAKIN, WINEMAKERS, БЛАГОПОЛУЧНА
On November 19, 2023, in Kyiv, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., at the InterContinental Hotel (Velika Zhytomyrska St., 2A), the 8th International Forum of Winemakers and Sommeliers will be held, as part of which will be held:
– Jubilee XX All-Ukrainian Sommelier Competition “Master Sommelier – 2022-2023”,
– VII All-Ukrainian Cavist Competition “Best Cavist of Ukraine – 2022-2023”,
– “Round table” of winemakers and sommeliers as part of the “Evening of winemakers”,
– Open tastings and presentations of wines, spirits, cheeses and other products for all event guests.
Organizers:
– All-Ukrainian Association of Winemakers and Sommeliers,
– Association of winemakers of Ukraine,
– The first sommelier school “Master Class” in Ukraine.
General Partner – TM “Vinos dela Luz”
General Information Partner – Information Agency “Interfax Ukraine”.
Partners: TM “Big Wines”, “SV plus”, “Poli1898”, “Delamain”, “AELRED”, “Eyguebelle”, “ACHA”, “Purity”, “Zinka”, “Voda.ua”, “Sigarny Dim” “Fortuna”, APSVT, Hotel “InterContinental”.
Media Partners – “Club of Experts“, “OPEN for BUSINESS“, magazine “Kyiv Diplomatic”,
The guests of these events will be the heads of companies importing alcoholic beverages, heads of the restaurant segment, sommeliers, winemakers, heads of wine companies and wine boutiques, representatives of business structures, mass media and TV, connoisseurs and wine lovers.
CLUB OF EXPERTS, InterContinental, international forum, SOMMELIERS, WINEMAKERS
On December 15-16, 2022, the IV International Charitable Scientific and Practical Conference “Viticulture and winemaking of Ukraine under martial law: learning to win!” will be held in Uzhhorod, in the premises of the Transcarpathian Regional Philharmonic. Picturesque Transcarpathia, which has long been a wine region, will welcome everyone who wants to develop the wine industry and show that Ukrainian winemaking is worthy of world recognition. The participants of the event will discuss the effective care of vineyards, modern technologies in winemaking and production of cognacs, grappa, chacha and other drinks and products from grapes. The conference will include a charity auction of goods and services for viticulture and winemaking, the proceeds from which will be used to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, to purchase winter ammunition and medicines.
The organizer of the conference is the media group “Technologies and Innovations”.
The conference will be held with the support of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration, the Association of Winegrowers, Winemakers and Distillers of Transcarpathia, the PU “UKRSADVINPROM”, the Association “Ukrsadprom”, the “Ukrvinprom” Corporation.
Scientific patronage is provided by the Odesa National Technological University, Uzhhorod National University (Department of Horticulture and Viticulture), the National Scientific Center “Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking named after V.E. Tairov” of the NAAS of Ukraine.
The charity auction will be held with the support of the Charitable Foundation “Strong and Free”.
The key idea of the conference is to demonstrate to Ukrainian producers of wines and other beverages how to create and develop a successful viticulture and winemaking business even in wartime, to popularize the latest technologies of growing and processing of grapes from the ground to the finished product – wine and other beverages made from grapes.
The conference program is designed for 2 days:
December 15 – conference day, during which Ukrainian and foreign experts, representatives of leading wine technology companies, scientists, winegrowers and winemakers will speak. Speakers will share successful experience in growing technical and table grapes, talk about the situation in Ukrainian viticulture, outline the main problems and ways to solve them.
At the beginning of the conference day there will be a round table discussion on the key topic “Ukrainian viticulture and winemaking under martial law: learning to win!”. The discussion will be attended by heads of wineries and vineyards, representatives of industry associations, scientists.
Along with the plenary session, there will be an exhibition of equipment and materials for the production of wines and cognacs, as well as technologies for growing table and industrial grapes, presentation of new grape varieties. Also during the event, there will be an exhibition of products of viticultural and winemaking enterprises.
During the conference day there will be a presentation of wines and other drinks from Ukrainian producers. Conference participants will be able to discover new quality wines and taste them.
December 16 – business tour to winegrowing and winemaking enterprises of Transcarpathia with tasting and presentation of new technologies for winemaking and viticulture.
We invite owners and managers, technologists, agronomists of large wineries, small and medium-sized growers of table and industrial grapes, winemakers, producers of spirits made from grapes and all those who are interested in establishing the production of high quality products through modern technologies, implementation of best practices presented by leading international and Ukrainian companies at the conference.
Picturesque Transcarpathia with a deep history of winemaking, with the beauty of the mountains, thermal waters and other highlights is waiting for you!
We all now live in a time when we need to unite and support the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian economy and each other. Only then we will remain unbreakable! We are waiting for you!
Registration of participants and partners – by contacts:
Larysa Tovkach, tel.: +38 097 96 89 516
Anna Pankratenkova, tel.: +38 097 759 25 83
Iryna Petroniuk, tel.: +38 096 49 166 92
General Information Partner – international specialized magazine “Drinks. Technologies and Innovations” (Drinks.Technologies) www.techdrinks.info
Media partners of the conference – specialized magazines “Horticulture and Vegetable growing. Technologies and Innovations” www.techhorticulture.com, “Yagidnyk”, www.jagodnik.info (Ukraine), Wine of Ukraine (www.wineofukraine.com), Interfax-Ukraine news agency, “Heart of Wine” project (https://theheartofwine.com/).
Open4business is a partner of the international conference
Ukrainian winegrowers and winemakers have asked the president and the government to reduce tax burden to minimize the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national quarantine. According to Bayadera Group’s press service, the initiative was supported by more than 50 vineyards and major wineries.
“In an open letter, they proposed, in particular, to introduce a special taxation regime for agricultural producers engaged in the cultivation of perennial plantations, viticulture and winemaking. Due to the worsening economic situation in the industry and adverse climatic conditions in the Black Sea region, this year they urge the abolition of certain taxes and reduce financial burden,” Bayadera Group said.
In addition, due to the negative consequences of the pandemic, national producers urge the government to support them by providing more loyal terms of representation in retail chains, increasing the share of Ukrainian wine and introducing duties as a protective mechanism.
“A significant increase in the import of alcoholic drinks in Ukraine has been observed over the past three years. For example, in 2019 the share of imported wine in retail chains was 58%, sparkling wine some 51%, vermouth and aperitifs some 69%,” Bayadera Group noted.
The winegrowers and winemakers hope that in connection with the difficult situation resulting from the pandemic and the introduction of quarantine, the authorities will take the proposed measures in the near future.
The Ukrsadvinprom Association has convened a congress of Ukrainian winemakers as part of the large-scale specialized exhibition Wine & Spirits in Kyiv and introduced an umbrella brand, Wine of Ukraine, which, according to the organizers, should help Ukrainian wine with winning solid positions in foreign markets.
Head of the Ukrsadvinprom Association Volodymyr Pechko, who was a co-organizer of the event, says Ukraine has already proved that it is a country with producers of high-quality wine, sparkling wine, vermouth, brandy, fruit wines and distillates, however, marketing Ukrainian-made produce in other countries should be backed by regular support of the state and an alliance of Ukrainian wine producers around one brand on the “Made in Ukraine” principle.
“The Ukrsadvinprom Association, the country’s leading winemakers recognized the urgent need for joint actions to enter foreign markets. Our trips and participation in top wine trade fairs in Chile, Argentina, France and other countries have shown in practice the success of other countries implementing joint projects under a single wine brand. Only together we can successfully present our products, and the common Wine of Ukraine brand will allow us to position our products abroad in the right way, reduce costs when participating in foreign exhibitions and forums, and lower advertising and PR expenses,” Volodymyr Pechko said.
“Our plans include the development of our project around the Wine of Ukraine brand as early as in 2020 and encourage all Ukrainian winemakers – both large and small enterprises – to join it,” Volodymyr Pechko, the head of the Ukrsadvinprom Association, added.
The Ukrsadvinprom association includes about 200 enterprises from different regions of Ukraine. Ukrsadvinprom was established in March 2016 to bring together market players and provide practical assistance in resolving problematic issues in viticulture and winemaking, as well as horticulture, including berry and walnut growing.
The main areas include lobbying interests and representation of enterprises in state executive agencies, expanding the geography of exports of products, formation of commodity lots, legal support of economic activities, consultation on issues of applying for state support, development of technological instructions and technical specifications necessary for the production of wines, cider, drinks made of fruit and other types of wine products.
Volodymyr Pechko heads the Ukrsadvinprom Association.
Interfax-Ukraine is a media partner of the event.
