Wine expert Roman Remeev states: "Labels that say 'Prosecco' and 'Champagne' are misleading."

In an interview with RBK-Ukraine, wine expert Roman Remeev discussed the development of Ukrainian winemaking, how to choose quality wine in stores without extensive knowledge, the marketing aspects of alcoholic beverages, the appropriate glasses for wine, selecting alcohol for New Year’s celebrations, the difference between sparkling wine and champagne, and tips for avoiding a hangover the next morning.

Just before the onset of the full-scale war, the Ukrainian winemaking industry began to flourish. In 2019, Ukrainian sparkling wine ranked among the top 10 at the London Wine Competition.

In 2021, Ukraine brought home 29 awards from the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, further solidifying its reputation as a winemaking nation.

Craft producers are not standing still: new names, flavors, and approaches to grape cultivation are emerging. For instance, this year, the highest vineyard in Ukraine was established at 500 meters above sea level in the village of Kvasy, located in Transcarpathia. Alongside winemaking, the wine culture among the population is also evolving.

To learn how to start exploring wine, champagne, and sparkling wine, what to choose for the New Year’s table, how to successfully pair alcohol with dishes, and how to avoid a hangover, read the interview with wine expert Roman Remeev on RBK-Ukraine.

This is a condensed version of our conversation. Watch the full interview on the YouTube channel of RBK-Ukraine.

– Do you think it’s fashionable to understand wine these days?

– Certainly, the trend is on the rise, and that's a fact. We all react to the outside world. Wine culture is developing significantly in America, Europe, and Asia. Therefore, it is gradually reaching us as well.

– Many producers are emerging in Ukraine right now. In particular, Transcarpathian wine is reaching its peak. How is wine culture developing in Ukraine?

– It is, of course, at an initial stage, but there is a trend towards growth. They (the winemakers - ed.) are doing the right things because, at one time, a major issue for Ukrainian winemaking was that large brands lobbied for certain legislative decisions that hindered smaller brands from creating their own wine.

Then the situation changed, and cool, new, ambitious, young winemakers willing to take risks started to emerge. However, for specific reasons, everything has significantly slowed down now, so I cannot say there is any vigorous development at the moment.

But at least we haven’t stopped, and one of the reasons we haven’t is that a certain demand for Ukrainian wine has developed in Europe, with Ukrainian exporters and import companies appearing in European countries that are bringing in and selling products.

I know that the top Ukrainian wineries have no issues with sales, so the trend is positive.

– Is there an imbalance in demand for stronger alcohol?

– Unfortunately, the economic situation in the country is not very stable, so it doesn’t motivate people to delve into wine or invest more in this direction. Therefore, I believe that strong alcohol takes the largest share in terms of popularity.

However, gradually, people are starting to drink less or simply stop drinking. To find an alternative, they are looking for less potent alcoholic beverages. So I hope that people will drink less strong alcohol than they once did, although strong alcohol is more accessible and, unfortunately, more effective in some respects.

Overall, strong alcohol still leads. But if we talk about the right trends, I think wine will gradually take over that share because people want to switch to something less aggressive.

– What should we focus on to buy a tasty wine in the store?

– You know what most people focus on, and I think you do too? The label. It should be something that appeals to us. That’s the first thing we respond to. The second is, of course, the price tag.

When knowledge about wine, grape varieties, and regions is lacking, we tend to choose randomly or seek out a specialist in the wine store to help us select what we need. That’s the only way to make a somewhat decent choice.

If you don’t have a wine specialist and you’re not in a specialized place, but you need to make a choice somehow, then you have two options: either you take a complete risk or use apps on your phone.

You scan the label and get information about the wine, and most importantly, you see comments from people who have tasted that wine. This is a fairly modern approach to not being misled or selecting something you will like in a store without a wine specialist.

– If we only focus on the labels "dry," "semi-dry," "semi-sweet," does that tell us anything about the flavors?

– There is a myth that semi-sweet and sweet wines are bad wines. That’s not true. They are simply different categories based on taste and sugar content. If you enjoy sweeter wines, you would opt for semi-sweet or sweet ones. If you prefer dry wines, you might occasionally allow yourself semi-dry, but you will primarily choose dry wines.

The amount of sugar is not primarily an indicator of wine quality. However, the downside of sweet and semi-sweet wines is that when you drink them with salty food, it often doesn’t taste good. Because salty food makes sweet or semi-sweet even sweeter due to the flavor combinations.

Since we mostly eat salty food, dry wine is more suitable in terms of basic flavor pairings. I mean, it’s better not to be a snob and drink what you like. Only at the moment when you develop an interest in what other wines are available will you start exploring further.

Then, through curiosity, your path of development and integration into wine culture will unfold naturally.

Pairing white wine with fish, and red wine –

– Can you name any varieties or products that are purely marketing-driven?

– Honestly, there are few such products. You have to specify very particular brands. But every product sold should have either natural or targeted marketing influence. Of course, large companies and brands have marketers, budgets, and the ability to ensure that you learn about their brand.

You know about Prosecco. You didn’t just learn about it randomly. Italy hopes that everyone will become familiar with Prosecco and start buying it. Taxes will flow into their country, so they invest money in developing not just the Prosecco producer, but the Prosecco category itself.

Then, internal marketing begins. The brand competes for its audience. But the category itself develops, sells, and promotes. So that’s just normal.

There are more popular items. Can we call that marketing? No, it’s simply a story about when money was invested in a particular category because they knew it resonated with consumers.

This has always been the case with sparkling wines, not just Prosecco, and it’s perfectly normal. The same was true initially for champagne as a whole category, which for some reason we think should be opened on New Year’s. Why is this pattern in our heads? Because it was ingrained in us in a certain way. Then champagne became expensive, inaccessible for many, and more alternative options emerged.

– Tell us how the shape of the glass affects the taste of the wine and which ones to choose.

– To understand how important the glass is, take wine and pour it into three different glasses. You will quickly realize that the aromas are different. You can already draw a practical conclusion that the glass, its shape, weight, and thickness significantly influence how you experience the wine.

At home, I believe you should choose one universal glass that will suit all types. Then you will never have problems. It looks somewhat like a tulip. It is not small, quite large. It has a standard shape, so the wine expresses itself correctly, clearly, and evenly in it. It’s great when you pour about 125 ml of wine into the glass.

– How should you hold the glass properly?

– The main thing is not to hold the glass by the bowl, as you leave fingerprints and heat the wine with the warmth of your hands.

– What can you say about Cahors as a wine? Can it be considered good at all? Honestly, it doesn’t have a very good reputation in my eyes.

– The category "Cahors" is historically a French wine that has been there to this day. It is an appellation (a legally recognized and protected geographical indication used for naming the location of grape growing for wine, cheese, oil, etc., as well as for geographically-branded labeling of the products themselves - ed.) called Cahors, where dry red wine is