More about Beykush Winery

Few wineries anywhere make wine in conditions like Beykush's: a small family estate on a cape jutting into the Black Sea near Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, that has kept its vineyards going through Russia's full-scale invasion and still turns out some of the most interesting wines coming out of the country.

Eugene (Yevgen) Shneyderis planted the vineyards on the Beykush peninsula, by the village of Chornomorka, after having the soils analysed, and made the first vintage in 2014. Water surrounds the site: the Berezan estuary on one side and Beykush Bay on the other. The vines grow in well-drained red clay and loam. Farming is organic, and the grapes are picked and sorted by hand.

The plantings are a deliberately wide mix: Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio; Merlot, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon; Georgian grapes such as Rkatsiteli and Saperavi; and experimental rows that have included Albariño, Timorasso, Tempranillo and Malbec. The one to seek out is Telti-Kuruk, a native Black Sea white listed on Slow Food's Ark of Taste, which Beykush ferments in steel and rests on its lees for a textured, coastal white. Artania is the name of their affordable, everyday red and white blends, and there's an amphora Rkatsiteli too.