Rat-a-tat! Pow! and Bang! is probably what you think of when you think of Ukraine and you’re not wrong, it’s a noisy place at times. Yet through the privations of wartimes the shoots of springtime may grow. I’m talking about grapevines in this case because today Mrs Sachi and I are drinking for Ukraine.
I was on patrol in the peaceful fields of downtown Sendai, Japan, at my post in World Liquor System, gathering intelligence on the red wine section when I was brought up short. I took cover behind a Bailies display and radioed to Mrs Sachie upstairs in the lounge.
“You better get down here, we got a problem. Over.”
Peering around the corner, I was able to snap this photograph:
We don’t get a lot of Central or Eastern-European wines in Bangkok and this was a gold mine. Regular readers will know that Mrs Sachi and I feel in love with Georgian wines a few years ago and this place had loads! Not only that but wine from Romania, Bulgaria and, top shelf, Ukraine. Not only that…
Austrian and Czech resilings! I adore resiling but they’re a special treat in tropical Thailand. I’m sure the Hungarians are no slouches at winemaking either.
What to do? Our trip was almost over and our suitcases were a-bulge with 100-Yen shop tat. This was a problem indeed.
I covered Mrs Sachi as she scuttled in to join me behind a pallet of Asahi beer and we put together a quick plan. I’;’d go for the wine, taking only what was absolutely necessary and head straight to the counter without getting distracted. Mrs Sachi would somersault into the liquor aisle and pick up an armload of hooch. We would link up and the counter, pay for the booze and then exfiltrate via the lift. The plan worked perfectly and soon we were riding said lift up to our room burdened with an amber Georgina and a sapavari, a resiling and the Ukrainian bottle of wine you see at the start of this piece. Oh, and a bottle of Malibu and one of those four litre bottles of whiskey plus a tiny bottle of absinthe that didn’t have a home.
Now we are safe back at base in Bangkok and it’s time to enjoy the spoils of war. We had the amber Georginan a few nights ago and it was OK but not as good as the one we brought back from the trip. However, we opened the Bolgrad tonight and… Wow.
In the glass it’s a fairly dark, plumby red with the characteristic light rim of a young wine. The nose is earthy, but not the dusty earth associated with South American wines and not much fruit.
The first taste is zesty, pleasantly acidic and exciting. Dark fruits, but I wouldn’t say your usual blackberries and currants, it’s more subtle than that although undoubtably fruity on the tongue. It’s so different from the Mediterranean reds that we have been drinking lately. Those are sunny wines and this isn’t really, although it remains fairly light. That’s probably because it’s low on tannins. There is some tannin, which lingers as the final note but it’s not the harsh, acid tannins that you may expect from a saperavi made in the traditional method (underground).
It’s a 2023 vintage and bottled in 2025. I had a look on Vivino and everybody loves it, scoring a high 3.7, where reviewers point out that it’s a tart wine, low on tannins and oak. Suits me fine. The winery is in Bolgrad, which is near Odessa and enjoys the coastal climate of the Black Sea.
I bought this wine because I want to support Ukraine in its struggle for sovereignty in any way I can and if I can send them a few (frankly very few, this wine is well in our sub-Bt500 range) dollars while getting hammered than all the better. I still think that’s a good reason to buy this wine but, boy! This stuff is dynamite and I’m honestly sorry we probably won’t get to buy it again, it’s the most exciting wine I have had in years. I’m also sorry we didn’t have some people over to share it with as it’s so different to everything that we get in Bangkok.
So Mrs Sachi and I are doing our best in the fight and drinking our way to victory. Slava Ukraini!