Where it is
Crimea is a peninsula in southern Ukraine, joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus and bounded by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. Russia has occupied it since 2014, and that occupation, together with the war, sanctions and the loss of access for Ukrainian producers, shapes what can be said about production today. Treat any recent figures with caution.
The map on this page shows Crimea and Sevastopol as Ukrainian territory, following the internationally recognised border.
Land and climate
The peninsula has three parts. In the north, a flat, dry steppe. Across the middle and south, the Crimean Mountains rise in a long ridge, with limestone plateaus known as yaylas. Along the narrow south coast, below the mountains, the climate is mild and almost Mediterranean, because the ridge shields it from northern winds and the Black Sea softens the winters.
Most of the best-known wine places sit on that south coast and on the foothills behind it: Yalta, Alushta, Sudak, Koktebel and, to the west, the area around Sevastopol and Inkerman.
History
Vines were grown here in antiquity. Greek colonists settled the coast from around the sixth century BC, and the ruins of Chersonesos near Sevastopol, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, include wine-related remains from the Greek period. Later rulers, among them the Genoese on the south coast, kept the tradition going.
The modern industry grew in the nineteenth century under the Russian Empire. The Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta collected vine varieties, and the Magarach institute in Yalta became a centre for viticulture research. Imperial estates such as Massandra were built to make and mature fine wines, and Prince Lev Golitsyn set up a sparkling wine cellar at Novyi Svit in the 1870s.
Grapes and wines
Crimea is best known for sweet and fortified wines made on the south coast, often from Muscat, and for old collection cellars where bottles are kept for decades. Kokur, a white grape local to the Sudak area, is the best-known native variety. International grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are widely planted, and Saperavi from the Caucasus is also grown. Sparkling wine has been made at Novyi Svit since the nineteenth century.
Places to know
Massandra and Yalta for fortified and dessert wines; Novyi Svit, near Sudak, for sparkling wine; Sudak for Kokur; Alushta and Koktebel for table wines; Inkerman and Sevastopol for reds and for the old stone cellars.