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TOP 24 best wines of ukraine

The Masters‘ choice:
Masters of Wine will select TOP24 of the best wines of Ukraine.

TOP 24 BEST WINES OF UKRAINE, a professional tasting by Masters of Wine from Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, will be held in Warsaw on July 28-29, 2024. Influential international experts — Masters of Wine — will evaluate the best Ukrainian wines and discuss the prospects of their promotion on the international markets. This international event was initiated by Wines of Ukraine within the international cooperation programme “EU4Business: SME Recovery, Competitiveness and Internationalisation”, co-financed by EU and Germany.

The purpose of the project is to change the global perception of Ukrainian wine, increase awareness of the Wines of Ukraine brand, and promote export development for Ukrainian winemakers.

We have invited recognized Masters of Wine from key European markets, which are extremely interesting for our exports, to participate in this tasting. The invited experts will conduct a blind tasting of about 100 Ukrainian wines, after which the TOP 24 (and the shortlist of the TOP 12) of the best Ukrainian wines of the season 2024 will be announced. This objective list, confirmed by the world’s most professional wine experts, will become an reputable benchmark for the quality of Ukrainian wines throughout the year.

Who are Masters of Wine?

Currently, there are only 416 people in the world who have reached the highest level of expertise in the field of wine and received the title of Master of Wine. These experts are rigorously trained and tested to earn the prestigious title, demonstrate solid knowledge and ability to decode a wide range of wines and regions. They are probably the most influential figures in the world‘s wine industry. Their evaluations and recommendations are of considerable interest to consumers, wine professionals and the media. Masters influence perceptions of wines, regions and styles, set trends and drive buyers‘ decisions, developing an important role in shaping the global wine market. 

Which Masters of Wine have already joined the "TOP 24 BEST WINES OF UKRAINE" project?

Sarah Abbott MW

Sarah Abbott MW

UK
Sarah Abbott became a Master of Wine in 2008, after ten years of working in sales, sourcing, education and marketing roles for specialist fine wine importers of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Italian wines. Sarah writes about wine for diverse publications including timatkin.com, the World of Fine Wine, and Swirl's company blog. She is a twice-listed finalist in the Roederer wine-writing awards and oversees the content strategy and creation for all client campaigns.
Richard Bampfield MW

Richard Bampfield MW

UK
Richard Bampfield passed the Master of Wine Exam in 1990. He regularly guides groups of students and press on visits to Bordeaux and Burgundy, and has been actively involved in the promotion of English wines. He is now probably best known for his work writing tasting notes and evaluating wines for Lidl and is a regular presenter on 67 Pall Mall’s TV channel, www.67pallmall.tv. Richard is a past Chairman of the Association of Wine Educators and was the European Champagne Ambassador 2009.
Wojciech Bonkowski MW

Wojciech Bonkowski MW

Poland
Wojciech Bońkowski is a wine writer from Poland. Simultaneously he developed a career in wine, working in London before returning to Poland where he published eight books and founded the country’s leading wine website, Winicjatywa (2012), and wine magazine, Ferment (2017). The Ferment media group now also includes a wine events agency, wine school, and publishing house. He was President of the Polish Wine Trade Association (2015–22) and is a member of the Académie Internationale du Vin. He currently focuses on the wines of Italy, Greece, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe.
Cees van Casteren MW

Cees van Casteren MW

The Netherlands
Cees spent 14 years in fine chemicals and oenological specialties. Cees started writing about wine in 2004. Since then he has written twelve books and some 600 articles on wine and food. His most recent book is Anyone Can Taste Wine. Cees is a judge at international wine competitions, and WSET Educator. He also runs his own independent wine consultancy and training business. Cees has twice been named Dutch Vinologist of the Year. He currently is Chairman of the United Vinologists, the main association of wine professionals in The Netherlands.
Caro Maurer MW

Caro Maurer MW

Germany
Caro Maurer, Master of Wine, is writing about wine since the early 1990s. She finished the WSET diploma level five as Germany’s top student. She was the first woman from the German speaking countries to become a Master of Wine in 2011. Now she shares her working time between the General-Anzeiger, the daily newspaper in Bonn, and as a writer for Germany’s leading food and wine magazine, Der Feinschmecker (The Gourmet), and the English wine magazine Decanter. Caro also works as a wine educator for WSET Diploma across Europe and hosts educational seminars and tastings for numerous wine associations and judges in international wine competitions; at Decanter WWA in London, she is a panel chair.
Heidi Mäkinen MW

Heidi Mäkinen MW

Finland
Heidi is Portfolio Manager and Partner of a Finnish wine importing company Viinitie. She became the Best Sommelier of Finland and the second in Chaîne des Rôtisseur’s Jeunes Sommeliers of the World in 2015, and the eight Best Sommelier of the World in 2016. She was selected as one of The Future 50 by WSET and IWSC in 2019. She is also currently the President of the Finnish Sommelier Association and a member of ASI Sommeliers Contests Committee. In addition to her daily job, Heidi teaches WSET at all levels, judges in various international wine competitions, offers consultation, and gives presentations on wine both in Finland and around the world.

Why do we do this?

Our goal is to promote the “Wines of Ukraine” brand on a global level. The purpose of the event is to change the global perception of Ukrainian wine, increase brand awareness and promote export development for Ukrainian winemakers.

"I am the first to admit that I knew nothing about Ukrainian wine until two years ago and, when I first met Ukrainian wine producers at the London Wine Fair in May 2022, my instinct was to support them as much as I could, primarily through charity. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to taste and drink Ukrainian wines on many occasions and have realised that they merit our attention for many more reasons than mere goodwill. From a commercial point of view, this is Ukraine's "moment" to grab the wine world's attention. The Warsaw project is an excellent opportunity to showcase the traditions, the diversity, the unusual grapes and the quality at all price levels that underpin Ukraine's wine business. It will be a pleasure and a privilege to be part of it."
Richard Bampfield MW
UK

How will the project develop in the future and what are the prospects for the winning wines?

  • Branded shelves "TOP 24 BEST WINES OF UKRAINE" with wines selected by the experts will be installed in the SILPO supermarket chain;
  • On the Wines of Ukraine website (ukr.wine) will be created a page with information about awarded wines;
  • Over the next few months, the Wines of Ukraine team plans to hold at least 6 Road Shows with selected wines in Europe and in Ukraine.
  • The event will be actively covered in national and international media.

How places will be allocated at
TOP 24 BEST WINES OF UKRAINE:

With this list, we strive to show the entire palette of the diversity of Ukrainian wines. So we want to present wines in all categories. Therefore, the list will include the wines with the most points in each of the categories:

3 wines – Charmat Method Sparkling wine/or Pet-Nat

3 wines – Traditional Method Sparkling wine

6 wines – white wines (of which at least 3 are not aged)

2 wines – orange

2 wines – rose

6 wines – red wines (of which at least 2 are not aged)

2 wines – sweet and fortified wines

MEDIA PARTNERS

This international event was initiated by Wines of Ukraine within the international cooperation programme EU4Business: recovery, competitiveness and internationalisation of SMEs, co-financed by the European Union and the German Government. The programme is carried out by the Entrepreneurship Development Fund, the strategic implementer is the German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The programme is aimed at supporting economic stability, recovery and growth of Ukraine, creating better conditions for the development of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as supporting innovation and exports. The contents of this and other publications of this series are the sole responsibility of Wines of Ukraine, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the German Government or GIZ.
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