ProWine Asia 2016 and wines from Russia

One discovery during the ProWine Asia 2016 was a booth exhibiting wines from Russia, Kuban-Vino Winery. It carried a good range of wines from sparkling, still whites and reds, to sweet wines under its Chateau Tamagne wine label.

Though sparkling wines from Abrau-Durso (located near lake Abrau) can be found in Singapore in recent years, it’s certainly difficult to get one’s hands on still wines produced from Russia. And not all ‘Russian wines’ are products of the land either. Wines in Russia have been known to be made from bulk wines imported from other wine growing countries (meaning they are imported into Russia, undergo flavour adjustments to suit local palate and get bottled and labelled as wines from Russia for local consumption). Recent years however has witnessed some shift by local undertakings going the way of increasing vine plantings, viticulture and vinification within Russia itself, using local and international grape varietals.

The representative at the booth explained that Kuban-Vino had its origins in 1956. It’s located within the Taman Peninsula, in a village called Starotitrovskaya. Reaching its 60 years of existence, it has over the years grown into one of the larger wineries in Russia, in terms of viticultural land, vinification capacity and range of product offerings. Investments in modern winery equipments imported from abroad and embracing wine production techniques from other countries have resulted in improvements in quality of wine production and aging of wines. At present slightly more than a 100 types of wines are produced for local and overseas consumption under this winery.

Chateau Tamagne wines
 

The Chateau Tamagne wine label is positioned as its premium brand. Different types of wines are produced under this label (including sparkling wines both done in Charmat and Traditional methods). The grapes used for production are grown within the region and the wines are produced by the winery itself (none of the imported bulk wine issues over here).

Chateau Tamagne Reserve Extra Brut Rose
 

At the booth, the Chateau Tamagne Reserve Extra Brut Rose stood out for its quality, delicate body and flavours, and overall elegance. Made of Cabernet Blanc, Merlot and Saperavi, it showed what Russia can offer in terms of a quality sip.

2012 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Krasnostop & 2010 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Collection Saperavi

Among its reds, 2012 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Krasnostop and 2010 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Collection Saperavi stood out. Both had good fruit presence, depth, balance and smooth texture. While the former (the Krasnostop varietal) revealed tannin highlights in palate, the latter (the Saperavi varietal) revealed the play of acidity in palate.

2013 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Grand Dessert Traminer and 2011 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Grand Dessert Nectar

Showcasing the sweeter wines were the aged and fortified 2013 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Grand Dessert Traminer and 2011 Chateau Tamagne Reserve Grand Dessert Nectar. These being sweeter sips, I opted to taste them closer to the day’s end, but time just flew way… next time when opportune arises I hope.