The reference onthe Russian wine market

By Wine Intelligence. Digest 2007

themoscowwinefestival

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TRADE SHOW & FAIRJUNE 2008

Оrganizers:Andrey GrigorievIgor Serdyuk

Sales director:Ekaterina Timofeevaadvert@magnum.su+7 (495) 755-8788

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TOP WINES FOR THE 2008 SUMMER SEASON

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As any sophisticated wine connoisseur knows, magnum is not just a double-bottle – it is in fact a different quality.Bottled in magnum, a serious wine has deeper flavor and longer ageing potential.Back in 2005, a group of Russian wine writers, united around two leading specialized publications, Vinnaya Kartaand Pod Gradusom, decided to create a new magazine for wine consumers. Consolidating two resources of creativeforce allowed them to reach a real new quality of a product as well as the new, higher, level of impact.Thus the magazine was called Magnum.Magnum is designed to deliver a message from a wine specialist to a final consumer. Its goal is to build up a commu-nity of wine enthusiasts in Russia, creating exciting readership for the advanced customers, and at the same timeinviting new customers to a fascinating wine world.For two years already, Magnum has been successful in fulfilling this mission.With the printrun of 8 000 copies, it hasbecome the most reliable regular source of information for those who are in wine. It has organized Magnum ReadersClub with its public tasting sessions, and MoscowWine Press Club, which reveals the “Results of the Wine Year inRussia” each December.The first MoscowWine Festival was launched by Magnum in June 2007. This exciting and unprecedented tastingevent, supported by the leading wine importers as well as by some interprofessional unions of wine producers,attracted more than 3 000 visitors in two days.Magnum is also famous for consulting wine companies, both producers and distributors. Magnum’s service divisionis called Wine Intelligence, and the demand for its consulting is steadily growing with the growth of the market.Russia is a challenging but very much a promising market, and we are looking forward to welcoming you on it!

Andrey Grigoriev, Publisher – grig@magnum.suIgor Serdyuk, Editor-in-chief – serdyuk@magnum.suEkaterina Timofeeva, Sales director – advert@magnum.su

MARKET_____IMPORTER

If you are a wine producer looking at emerging markets, and if you really want your business to besuccessful, you should try coming to Russia and finding yourself good importer. With the attractive,steady growth of wine consumption, the modern history of the Russian wine market is a story ofsurvival by those who once dared to import quality wines into what was supposed to be vodkacountry. Only a few of the strongest have survived, and those few are still making the wine world goround in spite of the industry crisis. Text by Igor Serdyuk

There are 126 importers for all of the winesand spirits sold in Russia, but just 16 ofthem control 65% share of total volume.A trend towards consolidation amongimporters was initially set in motion by thegovernment, which was looking for a way toplace stricter controls on the wine and spir-its market. New legal regulations pushedthe market towards further consolidation –it is now becoming just too expensive andbureaucratically complicated to be animporter. Since the new law was imposed,several importers and wine merchantsdecided to close or sell their businesses.While major importers have their own distri-bution systems in Moscow and St. Peters-burg, in other Russian cities they prefer towork with local distributors. Normally, eachof the regional markets is divided betweentwo or three companies, though sometimesa single wine and spirits wholesaler enjoys alocal monopoly. This has led to a paradox inwhich imported wines and spirits are notice-ably overpriced in regional markets wherethere is a noticeably lower level of purchas-ing power than in Moscow or St. Petersburg.Very fewMoscow-based companies havethus far tried to overcome local protection-ism and establish their own distribution inregions. Rusimport, in particular, is anexception to this rule. This firm was aggres-sive enough to offer regional markets acomplete range of its brands with the advan-tage of lower prices.

Ekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk,Kazan, Rostov, Krasnodar, Samara, andNizhny Novgorod are all promising anddeveloping markets, but Moscow stillaccounts for about half of the premium wineand spirits consumption in the country.Import market operators could be formallydivided into several categories.

The first is a group of large internationalcompanies like Diageo, Pernod Ricard andBacardi Martini, which have representativeoffices in Moscow and work with a selec-tion of large wholesalers like Rotor House,AST and others. (These wholesalers them-selves are starting to import some brands.)Moet-Hennessy has recently launched ajoint venture with its former exclusiveimporter,Whitehall, as the latter continuesto import and distribute a large portfolio ofwines and spirits.The second category is a group of majorimporters who have the lion’s share of thepremium wine segment, but sometimescombine premium quality products withfaster moving low-end wines or with afford-able spirits (mainly vodka). Some of them,like DP-Trade, MBG, United Distributors orVeld-21, have an elite image, whereas others,like Vinikom,Alianta or Rusimport, work in abroader range.Then there are a certain number of nicheimporters, like Vintage-M,Vinoteka or PalaisRoyal, who are quite comfortable supplyingcertain restaurants or private clients withboutique wines and spirits.Importers establish advertising andmarket-ing budgets financed both by their ownmar-gins (which go up to 100%) and by fundingfrom their suppliers. A large portion of thesebudgets is not spent on what we would usu-ally call marketing or advertising. These arethe rules of the game: importers and distrib-

utors increasingly have to pay for so-called“entry tickets”, meaning the right to placetheir bottles on supermarket shelves or toinclude them in restaurants’wine lists.Very few retail chains have their own spe-cialists who focus on actually choosingproducts for their assortment, preferring tohave “special deals”with suppliers.

Unfortunately, the on-trade segment worksin the same way.In theory, consumers should vote for thebest, thoroughly thought-out, wine lists, andignore the corrupt ones. But legal restric-tions on wine and spirits advertising makeconsumer education more difficult and timeconsuming.According to the law, advertising for anyalcoholic drink (with the exception of beer)is prohibited anywhere but in the placeswhere those drinks are being produced orsold. This law does afford market operatorsthe opportunity to publish their ads in spe-cialized publications distributed mainly inshops and restaurants. But at the sametime, the law limits distribution of theseyoung publications, which do not yet have acritical impact on consumer habits.Some of the glossy magazines with largerprint runs ignore the restrictions and acceptads from spirits brands in one or two issuesper year. In this case, they include theamount for which they will be fined into theprice of the ad, and take the risk of loosingtheir publishing license.Under these conditions, tasting sessionsremain the main format for promoting pre-mium wines and spirits in Russia. Importersuse it quite often, but most tastings arereserved for a limited number of profession-al sommeliers, cavists, wine merchants andjournalists. Although the importers organizetasting events for their best private clientsas well, a major wine event for consumershas not yet been created. The First MoscowWine Festival, with the ambition of attractinga few thousand wine lovers in two days, wasscheduled for last summer, but was post-poned until June 2007 because of the crisiscaused by the new excise stickers.French wine producers are historically themost active on the promotional side. Lastautumn, they could not legally import bot-tles for presentations because of the short-age of excise tax stickers – but they useddiplomatic channels and organized severalevents inside the French Embassy inMoscow. Roussillon was followed byBurgundy, Bordeaux Grands Crus and tradi-tional Beaujolais Nouveau events.

A trend towards consolidation among importers was initially setin motion by the government. New legal regulations pushed themarket towards further consolidation – it is now becoming justtoo expensive and bureaucratically complicated to be an importer

Wanted: Importer

MAGNUM DIGEST June 2007_____3

The dynamic Italian wine industry is alsotrying to promote its products in Russia.Impressive two-day presentations wereorganized last spring in Moscow and St.Petersburg by ICE and Veronafiere, as partof the Vinitaly promotional tour.Spain is so far a newer participant, but aseries of Brandy de Jerez promotionsacross Russia as well as the Spanish Wineand Food show in Moscow were a verygood start.The California Wine Institute ran animportant professional tasting at the USAmbassador’s Residence in Moscow.The same format was tested by theProChile organization but, according toimporters, it did not have a lot of rele-vance because the market for Chileanwine was already saturated. The MoscowWine Fair was cancelled in 2006, failing toovercome numerous technical and logisti-cal difficulties.Some of the major importers have suc-cessfully organized large tasting eventsbased on their suppliers’ products. Forexample, MBG recently held an Italianwine presentation, and Veld-21 did thesecond “Eau de Vie” festival, inviting distill-eries from Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados,Scotland and Japan, along with someFrench and Spanish wineries.With the exception of some niche com-panies, importers try to divide their assort-ment into the on-trade and off-tradesegments.Off-trade sells the biggest share of winesand spirits in Russia (more than 70 percent, according to some sources), but barsand restaurants are steadily increasingtheir share, especially in the premium andsuper-premium categories. Logically, thehigher the price of the product, the betterit sells in restaurants. Some importersreserve their best brands for on-trade only.But very few of them can resist the temp-tation… So if you see Sassicaia on a super-market shelf, don’t be surprised.However, the truth is that supermarketsdiffer in Russia. Even inside a single chain,like Perekrestok or 7th Continent, there arebetter located and more expensive storeswith margins up to 70–80 per cent, alongwith inexpensive stores with affordable30–50 per cent margins and a correspon-ding range of goods. Some of the super-markets, like Azbuka Vkusa, MegacenterItalia or Stockman, are targeting thewealthy and more sophisticated con-sumer, whereas some, like Kopeika, arefollowing a discounter model.A newer fashionable category of retailers –luxury grocery stores – is represented bythe Globus Gourmet chain, which sellsbrands like Hediard, Fauchon, Fortnum &Mason as well as some local specialties.One of the most remarkable phenomena inthe on-trade sector is the success of thefirst Moscow wine bars, which are posi-tioned in a booming mid-price segment.However, more expensive gastronomicrestaurants and fashionable lounge bars

remain rather dynamic and continue to bean attractive point of sale and good show-case for fine wines.Some of the major wine boutique chainsare affiliated with importers, such asWhitehall (Kauffman Collection), DP-Trade(Magnum, Vinum, etc.), Veld 21 (VinotecaParadis), Simple (Grand Cru) and MBG(Intendant). Interestingly, independentwine retailers such as Kollektsiya Vin(“Wine Collection”) or Aromatny Mir(“Aromatic World”) have also started toimport some products, considering exclu-sivity as a marketing advantage.Despite very high prices for rent, launchinga wine boutique is a good investment. If itis well-managed, it begins to pay back theinitial investment in about a year. Butimporters who own these shops considerthem not only as business units, but alsoas promotional spaces and sites for mar-keting activities.A wine boutique attracts consumers’ atten-tion and thus brings value to the image of awine importer and merchant. In fact, severalimporters have started to think aboutrebranding their companies, realizing thattheir old names did not carry a message forthe consumer.Whitehall company owner Mark Kauffmanwas the first to create a new brand –Kauffman Private Collection – putting anew logo on his wine boutiques and on theselection of fine wine and spirits in the com-pany’s portfolio.Wine and spirits importers are rethinkingnot only their marketing messages, but alsotheir portfolios, trying to replace bannedMoldovan and Georgian wines with afford-able values from Southern Russia or othercountries.Russian wineries have not yet recoveredfrom a series of dramatic cataclysms:Gorbachev’s prohibition in the mid-eightiesand the hyperinflation of the early nineties.They await new equipment as well as a newgeneration of winemakers with a quality-driven mentality.After all, it is Russian wine consumers whovote for quality. Local production of wine(the lower end of the segment) decreasedby 18% in 2005, while imports (mid-rangeand high end) grew by 25%.The very coldwinter of 2005–2006 ruined some of thevineyards, so the decrease in Russian wineproduction may continue in 2006.According to official statistics, the localproduction of wine in Russia is about 305million liters – but a significant part thatis imported bulk wine. Official imports are380 million liters, but that figure is likelyto be underestimated. The value ofimported wine and spirits grew more than35% and reached $1.3 billion in 2005.Imported wine made up about 41% of thisvolume.Before 2006, the biggest volume of wines –more than 50% – was imported to RussiafromMoldova. The Georgian segmentaccounted for 8–10%, close to the level ofFrench imports.

VALERYFILATOV,CEO,UNITED DISTRIBUTORS

Valery Filatov started his business

as one of themost successful gro-

cery wholesalers, but he soon real-

ized that wine deserves a special

business division. He has built up a

collection of fine wines and spirits

for the on-trade sector and high-

end retailers. His business has suf-

fered from the consequences of

the new regulatory system, just

like everybody else, but strategi-

cally he is convinced that consoli-

dation will make themarket

healthier andmore transparent.

“Wine is becoming a less attractive

idea for occasional adventurers,”

saysValery.“That will help the

consumer to feel more comfort-

able andmore confident about his

choices.”

ALEXANDER SHARIKOV,CEO,VINIKOM

Having created a diverse portfolio

of internationally-renowned

brands (Louis Roederer,Mouton

Cadet, Freixenet,Tenute di

Toscana, etc.) Alexander Sharikov

has led his company from the

purist image of a refined importer

to the uneasy path of wine produc-

er.Vinikom owns a winery near

Anapa, on the Black Sea coast, and

the Russkaya Loza (“Russian

Vine”) brand,which became a

national bestseller in 2005.

Alexander believes that he has

found real terroirs where he can

produce world-class wine, and

he has plans to build a new mod-

ern winery on the vineyards he

planted 5 years ago.

“Russia never had enough of its

own vineyards to provide wine

lovers with the necessary amount

of decent wine,” Sharikov says.

“So the Russian wine market will

inevitably be dominated by

imports. But if Russia joins the

WTO, it would probably kill the

Russian wine industry because so

far it cannot compete with

imports.”

ARMEN GRISHKIAN,CEO,ALIANTAGROUP

Armen Grishkian was one of those

who started to reconsider his

company’s portfolio about three

years ago, adding premium

brands to cheap Moldovan wines.

And that was quite timely – when

Moldovan and Georgian wines

were banned in 2006, he could

quickly replace them with value

wines from Europe and the New

World countries.

He is now thinking about a new

concept for a wine retail chain

which would be based on a thor-

ough selection of friendly-priced

wines.

“Russian consumers should not

be afraid of wine,” says Armen.“It

is our challenge to introduce wine

to a consumer who is curious

enough, but not yet decisive

enough, to identify himself as a

wine lover.”

ANALISIS_____MARKET IN RUSSIA

After the fall of the socialist system, Russia opened up to many new luxury goods, including wine.The past fifteen years witnessed the emergence and development of a highly competitive wine mar-ket with a set of key players, thousands of wine labels and changing consumption patterns.Analysis by Eleonora Scholes

The Russian wine market remains a curiosi-ty to many observers, largely due to the lackof up-to-date information and acceptedstereotypes of Russians drinking nothingbut vodka. In absolute figures, vodka andspirits account for two thirds of alcoholicbeverages consumed in Russia, with anoth-er quarter going for beer and about 10% forwine.Yet Russia is far from being the nationthat drinks the most. In 2003, its alcoholconsumption reached 9.3 liters per capita,placing the country 19th in the world andleaving it behind France, Ireland and theCzech Republic.Russia’s stable economic situation over thepast few years is leading to a new reality.Better lifestyles and higher disposableincomes are reversing the trend towardslower consumption of spirits and leading toa better appreciation of wine. The beer mar-ket, in the meantime, is approaching its sat-uration point – its growth has fallen from10% to 5% in the past year and is set toslower even further.Some thirty years ago, Russians were drink-ing about 17 liters of wine per capita.Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign of 1985and a sharp drop in personal income due tofurther economic turmoil made the winemarket nearly redundant. In themid-1990swine consumption plummeted to 2.5 liters.Vodka and spirits were seen as ‘better value’alcoholic drinks.The slow recovery of thewinemarket started after 1998 economic cri-

sis. Current consumption is estimated at6 liters per capita,with higher figures forwealthier cities such asMoscow,St. Peters-burg, Ekaterinburg, Kazan andNovosibirsk.Currently,wine is the fastest growing seg-ment of the Russian alcoholmarket. It is esti-mated at 730mln. liters per year with asteady annual increase of 8%by volume and15%by value.The RussianWinegrowers andWinemakers’Association estimates the totalwinemarket at about 2 billion US dollars.Despite Russia’s image as a non-wine produc-ing country, it has vineyards in the southwestbetween the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Lastyear, they accounted for over 190millionliters of wine.Most Russian bottled wine, how-ever, is blendedwith imported bulk products.Moldova, France and Spain have been keysuppliers, but in light of the current ban onMoldovan products the focus is shifting toSpain, new European suppliers and CentralAsia.NewWorld countries, notably Chile andArgentina, are losing out in this segment infavor of shipping bottled wine. Imports of bulkwine increased by nearly 5% to 128mln. literslast year.The total volume of Russian bottledwine is 320mln. liters per year. It sellsmainlyin the lower price bracket.Amajor success story lies in imported pack-aged wines. This segment continues toenjoy the most dynamic development interms of volume and value over the past 15years, except for a 2-year period followingRussia’s 1998 economic crisis. In 2005, the

Russian Wine MarketMoscow and St.Petersburg have thehighest concentra-tion of premiumwines in their mar-kets, reflecting thepurchasing habits ofa new class ofwealthy consumers

DMITRYPINSKY,DP-TRADE CEO,ONTHEHISTORYOFTHE RUSSIANFINEWINEMARKET

Before 1991, no private entity

could import anything. Export-

import operations were possible

only for state companies. By 1994,

when we came into wine business,

there were a few companies

importing mostly big brands. In

the fine wine sector, we counted

three companies as our future

competitors. They all were almost

illegal, since import taxes were

very high. Excise taxes, for

instance, were 46.5% on the

declared invoice value.

In August 1994, the authorities

changed the system for import tax-

ation and introducedmore specific

import duties, contrary to“ad valo-

rum“ system before. Import duties

were derived from the percentage

of pure alcohol, thusmaking them

negligible for still wines. Excise tax

becamemore specific, too, and

was as small as the import duty.

However, beginning in 1996, the

“ad valorum“ systemwas brought

back, and the import duty was

increased to 20%.The excise tax

remained small.

The next crucial point came in

1998 with Russian financial crisis.

The ruble was devalued against

the US Dollar by a factor of four.

The crisis greatly distorted the

development of the wine market.

Demand fell by 3–4 times.The

market remained very low until

almost 2001.After 2001 and up

until mid-2006, it was steadily

developing.

The effect of the recent introduc-

tion of new excise stamps and a

unified monitoring computer sys-

tem (EGAIS) is already well-

known.We as DP-Trade were

among the very first on the market

to overcome the crisis completely.

I would link the general forecast

for the Russian fine wine market

with world oil prices and Russian

real estate prices.They, in turn,

are connected to the global econ-

omy and to the 2008 elections in

Russia.Any forecasts are therefore

unpredictable.

MAGNUM DIGEST June 2007_____5

HOWDOESAN IMPORTERARRIVEATA LISTED PRICEFORABOTTLE OFWINE

Ex-cellar price plus transportation

costs are declared at customs

where a 20% import duty, varying

excise rates and 18%VATmust be

paid. Each label must be certified

to comply with Russian wine regu-

lations.An importer must also

possess a valid license that allows

him to trade in alcohol imports.

A single license costs up to

100,000 rubles (3,000 euros),

with a long-term general license

costing 1.5 mln. rubles (44,500

euros). Importer’s margins are

generally dictated by the type of

wine. Products for the low end of

the market have a higher turnover,

thus the margin stays lower at

10–30%.Wholesalers add anoth-

er 10% to the importer’s price.

Pricing for premium wines is dif-

ferent. Importer’s mark-up is

25–35%, sometimes up to 50%.

Shops add another 50%,while a

restaurant can multiply the whole-

sale price by 2–3 times for expen-

sive bottles, and up to 6 times

for entry-level wines.

Premium — more than 300 roubles (9 euros) 7%

Medium – 100–300 roubles (3–9 euros) 37%

Low – up to 100 roubles 56%

Source: Business Analytics

WINE MARKET BY PRICE POINTS

total volume of imported packaged winetotaled over 400mln. liters with an impres-sive 25% increase from the previous year.Moldova, Bulgaria, Georgia and France haveled the table of wine imports for a numberof years. The picture, however, will dramati-cally change after 2006 as Moldovan andGeorgian wines were banned on the groundsof health safety earlier this year.Natural still wines dominate themarket forimported packaged wine, accounting for 93percent. Until 2006,Moldova was theabsolute leader and supplied up to 70% ofall bottled wine. Cheap production, historicties and favorable economic conditions havelongmadeMoldova the prime source for thelower end of the Russian winemarket.Afterthe introduction of a ban onMoldovan wines,other importing countries jumped at theopportunity, but there are limitations. Newproducers will have to compete at a highlyprice sensitive level of 50–100 rubles (1.5–3euros) which doesn’t leavemuch room forquality offers. There are good prospects forRussian and foreign wine bottlers with pro-duction facilities inside the country, as wellas less costly wines from Eastern Europe,table wines from France, Spain and Italy andbasic ranges fromChile andArgentina.Imported bottled wines have firmly estab-lished themselves in the medium and pre-mium price segments. The former featuresinexpensive wines from European and NewWorld producers, while the range of the lat-

ter is as good as in any other serious winemarket. It thrives with names and labels ofthe top world producers, from Bordeauxfirst growths to NewWorld cults.The category of sparkling wine takes a signifi-cant share of the Russianmarket, but itsmainsuccess comes from charmat wines pro-duced and bottled in Russia. Imported bulkproducts are also often blended in.Averageprices on the shelves are 100–150 rubles(3–4.5 euros).Thismakes Russian sparklersan affordable and highly popular drink.Imported bottled sparkling wines take asmall share of the overall sparkling categorywith figures around 9%over the past fewyears. In 2005, Italy was the second largestimporter after Moldova, largely thanks toAstiwines with their good visibility on themarketand promotional support. Ukraine comesthird with quality production in the Crimea,while France ranks fourth place. French salesin Russia include all of the leading cham-pagne brands and a number of cremants.Russian consumers drink asmuch as 70%red wine.White winemakes up only about aquarter of themarket, with the rest going to

rose. One particularity in this country is thatpeople still opt for off-dry or semisweet fla-vors, even for red wines. Dry wines dominateonly in premium and ultra-premium cate-gories, reflecting amore sophisticated drink-ing culture of this wealthy consumer group.A recent study on wine sales in Russia, con-ducted by research agency BusinessAnalytics, reveals that over 50% of salescome from the lowest segment of themar-ket. The niche of premium and ultra-premi-um products remains small at only 7% ofthe total market.Although a country withlarge population of 143mln. people, actualincome per capita is low. On average,Russians earn 2,610 USD (2,088 euros) peryear (World Bank). The situation is differentin Moscow, St. Petersburg and other keycities, where drinkers withmuch higher dis-posable incomes spendmore on fine wines.Moscow and St. Petersburg have the highestconcentration of premiumwines in theirmarkets, reflecting the purchasing habits ofa new class of wealthy consumers.As longas world oil prices remain high, the Russianfine winemarket will continue to grow.

Russia’s stable economic situation over the past few years isleading to a new reality. Better lifestyles and higher disposableincomes are reversing the trend towards lower consumption ofspirits and leading to a better appreciation of wine

Country 2004, mln. l 2005, mln. l Change,%

Moldova 55.11 41.81 -24.1%

Spain 18.96 37.98 +200.3%

France 22.52 23.01 +2.1%

Uzbekistan 1.48 11.37 +768%

Argentina 15.23 11.14 -26.8%

Italy — 1.51

Ukraine 5.03 0.93 -81.5%

Hungary 0.02 0.09 +450%

Chile 1.39 0.07 -95%

Australia 2.10 — —

Others 0.16 — —

Total 122.01 127.92 +4.8%

Source: SUAR (The National Union of Wineand Spirits Producers and Distributors)

COUNTRIES-SUPPLIERS OF BULKWINE

Type of wine 2004, mln. l 2005, mln. l Change,%

Still 299.27 376.5 +25.8%

Sparkling 11.73 12.25 +4.4%

Aromatised (vermouths) 15.33 17.13 +11.7%

Total 326.33 405.88 +24.4%

Source: SUAR (The National Union of Wineand Spirits Producers and Distributors)

MARKET OF IMPORTED PACKAGEDWINES

Source: Source: Kachalov & Partners Agency

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION (1961 = 100%)

Country 2004,% 2005,%

Moldova 58.90 51.30

Bulgaria 12.30 16.60

Georgia 7.80 8.90

France 5.20 5.80

Spain 3.70 3.50

Ukraine 2.50 2.80

Germany 2.20 2.20

Argentina 1.60 2.30

Italy 1.60 1.80

Chile 1.50 1.90

Others 2.80 3.00

IMPORTED PACKAGED STILLWINES, BY COUNTRY

Very clean fragrance. In the taste,and especially in the aftertaste,there is a noticeable bit of sharp-ness, which, incidentally, is part ofvodka’s character.

90

MyagkovPremiumUkraine

Overline Concern

Interesting, fresh and“juicy”aroma with a hint of bread.Tastesmasculine, powerful and ”pun-gent”.Amodel worthy of praisefor its ”irrepressible expressionandmasculine dominance”.

90

Kauffman CollectionSelected Russian VodkaZhestkaya (‘Hard’)Russia

Whitehall Center

An interesting, light, vodka, inhalftones.The taste is juicy, rea-sonably pungent with a with ahint of vodka character but with-out burning.

91

WyborowaPremiumPoland

Armyansky Cognac

A clean, light vodka scent. Softand elegant taste.The women inour tasting commission especial-ly enjoyed this vodka.

90

Roberto CavalliUltra PremiumItaly

Vasco International

Pleasant aromas tinged withwater from the spring snowmelt.The taste is verymild, but theaftertaste, however, is clearlymarked by a light pepperyness.

91

WyborowaSingle EstatePoland

Armyansky Cognac

TEST______VODKA

Verymild aroma,with nuancesthat recall the taste of fresh birchsap.The taste is light, pleasant,with organic vodka pepper.

91

YuriDolgorukyRussia

Vremena Goda

A very clean aroma, with aremarkable vodka freshness. Thetaste has a moderate burn, butfor many this burning is theessence of vodka’s character.

92

TigodaLuxRussia

Veld 21

Themild aroma pleasantly con-veys the scent of toasted darkbread. It has a verymild and cleantaste, without aftertaste. This vod-ka leaves a satisfying impression.

92

ArsenichOriginalRussia

Boris SmirnovTrade House

Being traditional vodka-drinking country, Russia does not have a regular rating of vodka brands. Tryingto fill the niche, Magnum has organized a blind tasting of the leading premium vodkas represented onthe Russian market. Imported products proved to be strong competitors to the genuine Russian vodka.

Search for the right vodka

Scale: 81–85 points – Bronze Medal, 85–90 – Silver Medal, 90–95 – Gold Medal, 95–100 – Grand Prix. The full list of rated vodka is published in Magnum #1/07

MAGNUM DIGEST June 2007_____7

Tigoda was themost unexpected newcomerat the top of Magnum’s annual vodka rating,scoring 92 points out of 100 in the blindtasting, and gaining sympathies of the wholepanel. Intrigued by the bright performanceof a an unknown brand, our reporters wentto inspect the production facilities located inthe north-western part of Russia, some 200kilometers from St. Petersburg.“If you want to control the quality of yourproduct, you normally take care about therawmaterial, don’t you?,” says LudmilaVybornova, the chief technologist of Tigodadistillery. She explains howmuch time shespends on the selection of grain for her pro-duction, but she does not consider it awaste of time. “We use only the healthiestrye and have the finest spirit,” she says.Tigoda is one of the few Russian vodkabrands, which have a privilege of having theirown rectification distilleries. The greatmajority of vodka factories buy 96 per centspirit, dissolve it with water, filter it and bot-tle it under their labels. But not only Tigodaproduces spirit of a guaranteed quality forits own needs, but it chooses uniquely thevery best lots, selected by a panel of tasters.All the rest is sold to other vodka producers.Another essential secret is the specialbreed of yeast used for fermentation of therye mash. Grown by a research institute inMoscow, the yeast is then adapted to theproduction conditions at the distillery. Therecipe is strictly kept by a limited number oftechnologists in charge.After the distillation is fulfilled, and the rec-tificated selected by the tasting jury, thespirit is blended with the conditioned arte-sian water in the proportion of 40 to 60.This blend goes to the 18 charcoal filtercolumns to slowly obtain the fine purity ofthe famous Russian vodka flavor.

Purity of the grain spirit

Above:Tigoda river gaveits name to thevodka brand

Special breedof yeast is one ofthe strictly keptsecrets

Left:Quality of thepackaging is dou-ble-controlled atTigoda distillery

Spitit for Tigoda isusually distilledfromRye grain

EVENTS_____WINE FESTIVAL

The first MoscowWine Festival took placeon June 8–9 at T-Modul exhibition & shop-ping mall in central Moscow, gathering 17major Russian wine and spirits importersand attracting more than 3000 visitors intwo days.Wine professionals and connois-seurs attendedmaster-classes and semi-nars, entertaining sessions and interactivetalk shows. The unprecedented tastingevent was also supported by the inter-pro-fessional unions of wine producers fromBordeaux and Jerez, which presented theirspecial projects at the show. The festivalprogram included presentation of the “100Favorite Bordeaux” rating by Magnum andthe CIVB. In the frame of the wine show,

Magnum organized the first conference onhealth and wine therapy. The conference,followed by a press briefing, was attendedby the specialists in narcology, oncologyand other areas of clinical medicine.Scientists declared their readiness tolaunch a series of researches to prove thepositive effect of moderate drinking on dif-ferent forms of pathology. After that, thewine therapists consulted the attendees ofthe festival. Two charity auctions finalizedthe program of each of the festival’s twodays. One featured the rare wines and spiritsfrom the Moscow importers and collectors.Another one presented the hedonistic paint-ings of the Soviet period.

The First MoscowWine Festivalattracts thousandsof guests

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