Wine and Liquor Warehouse.

MAXIM - A new project is launched - Rambler's Top100wines. At the end of the year, Forbes will present the first version of the hierarchy of domestic winemaking - "100 best Russian wines"

Many will think now where to find 100 decent Russian wines. We were often asked, asked and will probably ask this question until our rating is published. Therefore, they will not surprise us. We will surprise you with a hundred excellent Russian wines, different: white and red, still and sparkling, expensive and affordable, light and powerful, aged and young, rare and widespread. But equally good and interesting!

The rating is, of course, based on the taste and organoleptic qualities of the wine. That is, all the wines out of a hundred are, first of all, wines that are pleasant to drink and that bring pleasure, and also exactly meet the criteria for high-quality and good wine.

Why did you decide to start preparing the rating? Russian winemaking is showing rapid growth, and not only quantitative, but also qualitative. Winemaking has become fashionable and prestigious; this is an increasingly important element of status. Ownership of vineyards is attributed to the first persons of the state, and almost every second oligarch and official. Some invest in wine quite openly, some try not to advertise their participation in wine projects, but no one actively protests against such associations.

The government policy in this area confirms the interest of the ruling class in winemaking. In the past few years, one can observe unprecedented support for the industry, both financial - in the form of budget subsidies, and legislative and administrative. Powerful protectionist measures - a ban on imported timber, a mechanism to compensate for excise taxes, subsidizing vineyards only from domestic seedlings - although at first lead to some imbalance and local sectoral crises (in the form of, for example, a sharp rise in prices for Russian grapes this year), but in the medium term, they form the most favorable conditions for the development and prosperity of national winemaking. We are witnessing the first attempt in more than half a century to revive and develop Russian winemaking traditions.

Such a "revolution from above" goes beyond the framework of bureaucratic administration and already gives a reaction "from below". There is an influx of fresh blood into the industry - brains, capital, new ethics, correlation with the best world practices. Wine is not only a business, but a philosophy and a way of life. Now this is already true in relation to Russian wine.

And it resonates with consumers and the market. Wine is more and more an element of the modern consumption model and more and more often it is our own, Russian wine. Wine trading companies, wineries, restaurants - “You don’t have Russian wine? Something is wrong with you! " Wine tourism, local wine gastronomy (rules for matching wine to a dish - Forbes), wine festivals and tastings are developing and becoming fashionable and popular.

Russian winemaking is entering a period of maturation - the industry is taking shape structurally, applications for leadership have appeared both in the economic and ideological sense. There is an obvious need for comprehension, for reflection, for a look from the outside. The need for a mirror, or rather even for mirrors. How Russian wine is reflected in the eyes of consumers, experts and competitors.

There is still no definitive answer to this request. It so happened that despite several interesting attempts in Russia, not a single serious national wine competition with unconditional authority was formed. Wine journalism has been de facto marginalized by the prohibitive Advertising Law and the zeal of officials from the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Individual successes of Russian wines in international competitions testify to the great potential of our terroirs and wineries, but still too fragmentary to be representative.

The interest of consumers, the interest of the professional community, the interest of the international market are becoming more and more tangible. What is happening in Russian winemaking now? Who is who? What to try, what to drink, what to buy?

Our ambition is to provide an honest, interesting professional answer to these questions. Forbes and its readers are a guarantee that we will bring information about the best Russian wines to the mass and high-quality, which means to a truly target audience. The international status of Forbes will ensure attention to the rating outside our country, and will allow to present Russian winemaking in a global format. (Forbes)

*The opinion of the editorial board may not coincide with the point of view of the author

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