Tasting of rare "victorious" wines took place at the Massandra factory in Crimea

We spent a unique journey through the most significant pages of our country's history in Crimea. A traditional tasting of rare wines took place at the Massandra factory, and this year it was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Bottles without the usual labels contain the most valuable samples of wines. They are strictly evaluated by experts according to a variety of criteria, just as they were almost 100 years ago. This is how one of the main annual wine—making events, the Egorov Tasting, takes place. Not just a tradition, but in a sense, a science.

"At such events, we have the opportunity not just to work, but to taste the wines, characterize them, touch the history, a certain heritage, heritage and look at the wines, let's say, in a slightly different way," said Alexander Yakimenko, chief winemaker of PJSC Massandra.

Just as in art, it is important for experts to feel the wines. This is the only way to produce new masterpieces that will be on a par with those that have already passed the test of time.

"There are more than a million collectible bottles stored in these cellars. They can be said to contain the history of our country. A real vintage, covered with centuries—old dust," says Anastasia Kharchenko, a correspondent for Izvestia.

And at the tasting there is an opportunity to touch the history. This year, the selection was timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Victory.

"All the years have been chosen, this is an anniversary date. 15 years, 25, 30, 50, 40 years of Victory — these are the seasons that the winemakers did under the mental ownership of the Great Victory," said Elena Batrak, chief expert on collectible wines of PJSC Massandra.

The taste of these wines, according to experts, seems to convey the emotions that the whole country experienced on these important dates.

"They are special because of their age. And, perhaps, some specifics were added by the fact that in those years the vineyards actually had to be restored, there was a lot of manual labor. Of course, those years bear a certain imprint of the war years," said Vladimir Maslovsky, CEO of PJSC Massandra.

The most mature wine of this tasting is the Muscat White Castel from 1938, which survived the entire war. And the main thing, of course, was called the "victorious" "Muscat white liqueur" of 1945.

Massandra provided us with excellent samples. There are a lot of samples that are more than 50 years old. And we started with sherry, it's divine, beautiful. Then we switched to port wines," said Tatiana Maksimova, General Director of JSC "ZSHV "Novy Svet".

This year, tourists also had the opportunity to taste unique wines. You can do this in the company's restaurant, which opened very recently.

"The wine restaurant has the most complete assortment in our bar, and therefore you can taste any wine from our assortment. At your service," said Elena Miroshnik, Head of the Department of Tourism and Socio—Cultural Services at PJSC Massandra.

Massandra has been maintaining the status of one of the best wineries in the world for 131 years. A huge part of the wine brands that are available here are not produced anywhere else.

"The sea, mountains, sun, and soil rich in trace elements are ideal conditions for growing grapes. The vine here is strong, and the bunches literally absorb all the most useful things. And the wine turns out to be special," says Kharchenko.

Massandra does not pursue high-yielding varieties. We want high-quality wine materials, so we are planting varieties such as furmint for next year's sercial. They are not very productive, but they are of high quality," says Anatoly Neskorodov, Chief agronomist of PJSC Massandra.

Keeping up with history and keeping up with the times. As the vineyard area increases, the company itself is being modernized. Since 2022, large-scale equipment purchases have been carried out here.

"We see with you the equipment in the form of fermenters for the fermentation of white wines, as well as vinifiers that will allow us to obtain high—quality red wines," said Sergey Lagirev, Head of Branch Relations at PJSC Massandra.

And they really turn out to be one of the best here. It is not for nothing that Crimean enterprises have been winning the highest awards for many years.

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