Big Russian Wine is a legendary collection from the most progressive Russian winemakers and wineries. It includes 17 product lines and more than 150 wines from 6 winemakers. Among these wines there are true masterpieces awarded 90+ points by international experts.
Big Russian Wine
Sikory
Balaklava
Markotkh
Galitsky & Galitsky
Lefkadia Valley
Shumrinka
Vineyards: 47 hectares of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Riesling and Krasnostop varieties of grapes.
Achievements: 16 reviews by The Wine Advocate with scores from 86 to 90. Two Rieslings scored 90 points.
Alexander Sikorsky and his team revolutionized the Semigorsky farm. Today, the Sikory project, launched in 2011, is a state-of-art boutique farm with an impressive range of wines highly rated by The Wine Advocate.
The vineyards are located in Semigorye, the valley and appellation of the same name (Semigorye ZGU, controlled geographical indication, the analog of AOC/DOC) and are surrounded by seven hills with rocky soils. Only own grapes, grown with minimal intervention and harvested manually, are used to produce local wines.
Sikory winery implements the gravity flow technology and was awarded Gold Medal at the Berlin International Wine Competition.
Vineyards: 1450 hectares of international and local grape varieties (Kokour and Bastardo).
Achievements: excellent sparkling wines, «Champagneria», and special project in collaboration with winemaker Oleg Repin.
Yachts, azure sea water, golden sand, and rocks form scenic views of Balaklava bay in Crimea. For its mild climate, Balaklava could be compared with Champagne, France and is associated with premium sparkling wines recognized all over the world owing to Zolotaya Balka winery.
The farm dates back to the Russian Empire era, but several years ago, the winery was reinvented: following the large-scale investment and reconstruction, it significantly increased its production of premium-quality sparkling wines.
Zolotaya Balka’s signature still wines came as a result of a collaboration with Oleg Repin, the guru of Crimean wine-making. Together they launched the Loco Cimbali boutique project. This name means «Locality of Cembalo», which is a reference to the 15th century when the Genoese lived in the Cembalo fortress nearby. As a result of cooperation with Oleg Repin, the farm invented elegant wines based on local varieties while experimenting with aging in oak barrels of different origins and levels of roasting.
Vineyards: 9.5 hectares and 12 grape varieties ranging from Viognier and Rkatsiteli to Marselan and Syrah.
Achievements: powerful and vibrant wines.
Alexey Tolstoy is one of the most respected winemakers in Russia. Wines from Markotkh Estate were the first in the Simple’s Russian portfolio. Tolstoy named his project after the Markotkh Ridge («markotkh» means «blackberry» or «berry» in the Circassian language). Vineyards are located near the village of Vinogradnoe, 10 kilometers off the Black Sea coast. A fan of Tuscany and Bordeaux, Alexey Tolstoy highly appreciated the local terroir that combines soils similar to the Tuscan galestro (mixture of shale, limestone, sand, and clay). Summers in this region is hot and windy and winters are snowy.
Vineyards: 68 hectares of vineyards in Kuban and near Anapa (the village of Gostagaevskaya, the Krasnaya Gorka appellation).
Achievements: wines by winemaker Alexey Tolstoy.
Alexey Tolstoy is a guest winemaker in the project by the Galitsky businessmen. The vineyards were planted in 2010 in Krasnaya Gorka, a unique nature reserve 30 kilometers off the Black Sea coast. Hilly slopes with southern and western exposure (250–300 meters above sea level) and rocky soils with high content of limestone and marl make the zone comparable to Piedmont. The number of sunny days is the highest across the Black Sea coast, the sea breeze aerates vineyards, while the air from the mountain gorges properly cools each vine, giving future wines a powerful fruity charge. Here, both local (Krasnostop and Tsimlyansky Chorny) and international grape varieties (Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay) feel comfortable.
The Galitsky & Galitsky winery was built in 2016. Its first vintage was released in November 2019 and immediately created a sensation.
Vineyards: 220 hectares of own vineyards and 15 hectares of vineyards for partner wine projects.
Achievements: the first Russian wine that scored 91 points, with 17 other scores from 86 to 90 points (according to The Wine Advocate rating). These wines were created in collaboration with famous enologists and wine consultants.
Members of the Nikolaev family are the pioneers in Russian wine-making. Their vineyards are located in the Krasnodar Territory in the foothills of the Caucasus. The Nikolaevs engaged world-class experts: agronomist Gilles Rais (15 years of experience with Château Mouton Rothschild) and the great wine consultant and winemaker Patrick Leon (one of the creators of Opus One and Almaviva). Temelion, the bombshell sparkling product line, was created by Rudolf Peters, Récoltant from Champagne.
Since 2005, the Lefkadia Valley team made tremendous work: constructed a new winery implementing gravity-flow technology, developed new land plots, and created new highly-rated wines. As a result, Lefkadia Valley got qualified as an appellation: all wines are now labeled ZNMP Lefkadia Valley (protected single-yard appellation).
Vineyards: 56 hectares, 17 grape varieties, 5200 seedlings per hectare.
Achievements: 97 points at the Decanter World Wine Awards and 92 points at the International Wine Challenge.
The Shumrinka winery is located in the village of Gai-Kodzor (Anapa District, Krasnodar Territory). The unique local terroir enjoys the combination of sea breeze and cool air from mountaintops.
Vlado Juricic is the winery’s chief agronomist (Vinarija Aleksandrovic) and enologist Roman Logunov, the author of the Maistra project, has the role of the chief winemaker.
Simple’s collection includes the Semisam and Petrikor lines, as well as Shumrinka’s specialties such as Rosé Mellow Rose and the Czech variety Palava.
