For the first time in its history, Russia now has a federal wine law.
After nearly a decade of heated discussions, the Law on Viticulture and Wine in Russian Federation (Federal Law No 815115-7), was approved by the Russian Parliament. It was signed by President Vladimir Putin and officially published on December 28. It goes into effect in June 2020.
“The very fact that we now have a special law on wine is the most important,” says Leonid Popovich, president of the Russian Vintners and Winemakers Union. “The Russian wine industry had grown to the size when it really needed such a law. It is an important signal for investors.”
The law has created new definitions of wine, terroir and bulk wine, as well as new categories like “grape-containing drinks”, which will lead to significant changes to the Russian wine market, analysts predict.
What’s changed
According to the new law, wine as a “result of complete or partial fermentation” can “only be made of fresh grapes or fresh grape must”, which in effect means numerous Russian wine bottling facilities can no long use the term “wine” on their labels. Bottlers of imported bulk wine are supposed to name their products “grape containing drinks,” and retailers will have to put them on special shelves. The “Russian wine” designation is now for wines made exclusively from grapes grown in Russia; the law prohibits the use of imported bulk wine for the production of wine in Russia.
According to official customs statistics, the volume of bulk wine imported to Russia in 2018 exceeded 120m litres, an amount that rose further in 2019. Total domestic production, which includes imported bulk bottled in Russia, is estimated at 515m litres, with total imports reaching 460m litres.
“In many points, the law shows real breakthrough in the wine industry regulation,” says Irina Godunova, independent wine expert and author, adding that the new law protects denominations and origins. “Russia needed a law that could insure the long-term development of its wine industry.”
Pavel Shvets of Uppa, a producer of high-end biodynamic wines, agrees that the new law will promote wines of protected origins but will not be effective enough to set up necessary quality standards. “The law cannot guarantee quality of wine of protected appellation if it does not provide control of the yield,” says Shvets. “So only a few of winemakers’ problems will be partly solved.”
The Russian wine industry was previously regulated by the Federal Law No 171, “On production and turnover of alcoholic products”, which was originally created to control the alcohol market, dominated by vodka. Popovich says that the new law has left some questions unanswered, but that the Russian government is likely to issue amendments and decrees that will eliminate contradictions between the new wine law and the previous federal law.
While the new law is generally praised by analysts, it has sparked hot debates among those wine producers who import large amounts of bulk wine, to meet the consumer demand for inexpensive wines.
The losers
On December 18, just ten days before the law was finally approved, Vedomosti, one of the leading business newspapers in Russia, published an article predicting the law would have dramatic consequences for Russia’s major sparkling wine producers. According to Vedomosti’s estimates, the volume of sparkling wine produced in Russia, might fall by more than half after the introduction of the new law. The article quoted both Pavel Titov, president of the historic Abrau-Durso sparkling wine facility, and Yury Dudko, general director for Saint-Petersburg’s Igristiye Vina bottling facility.
The Vedomosti article provoked a strong reaction from Dmitry Kislev, the recently elected President of the Russian Union of Oenologists and Winemakers. Also known as general director for the Rossiya Segodnya news agency and as a provocative TV anchor, Kiselev used his prime time weekly television show to aim harsh criticism at Abrau-Durso and Yury Dudko, calling their wines – which are mostly produced from imported bulk – “shmurdyak”, a colloquial words for low quality or fake products.
Kiselyov’s performance set off a wave of discussion among the wine bloggers. The wineries themselves remained silent.
Igor Serdyuk
This article first appeared in Issue 1, 2020 of Meininger's Wine Business International magazine, available by subscription in print or digital.
