This wine was made in honor of the 60th anniversary of founder of family winery Kolonist Ivan Plachkov.

Tasting Notes

This fine wine has a velvety aroma of multifaceted with dominant tones of ageing (smoke and sap), with pronounced tones of red and black currant, with hints of vanilla and coffee.

Production

Wine is produced by fermentation technology with whole berries in oak vinificators which are made of hundred of years of oak, and aged for 9 months in new French barriques with ceramic firing.​ The potential of ageing in the bottle: 7–9 years from the vintage year

History

About Kolonist winery  Colonists come to Bessarabia

Ukrainian Danube Bessarabia, located in the south of Odesa region, is a region with a rich history, Mediterranean climate and a unique demographic composition of the population. The region is called the interfluve because it is located between the two rivers Danube and the Dniester and is washed by the warm waters of the Black Sea. The Thracian kingdom in Ancient Greece, Mysia during the time of the Roman and the Byzantine Empire, the Ongle during the time of Great Bulgaria, the Ottoman and Russian Empires - and this is not a complete list of names and states present at different times on these blessed lands. Even today you can see the Trojan Shafts - the borders of the Roman Empire, built by the emperor Troyan.The history of the colonists in the lands of Bessarabia begins in the second half of the 18th century, when immigrants come to these lands, scorched by the sun, where nomadic Nogai tribes lived before. Germans, French, Greeks, Bulgarians, Gagauz, Albanians and representatives of many other peoples settled on these lands, having received privileges and advantages. In a very short time, this region from a scorched steppe turned into a blooming garden. Bulgarians came here fleeing the Ottoman yoke in order to preserve their faith, language and history, traditions and culture. The Plachkov family comes here along with other Bulgarian immigrants from northern Macedonia, where they lived at the foot of the Plachkovitsa mountain range. According to legend, the widow of perished who died at the hands of a Janissary in the fight for freedom of the haiduc with three young sons secretly crossed the Danube and settled in the village of Cheshma-Varuita (the first name of the Krynychne village), which is located on the shore of the largest lake in Ukraine - Yalpug - “Radiant Valley”ю

At the very beginning of the 19th-century serfdom still existed. But the Bulgarians, thanks to the guardianship of the Governor of Bessarabia, Ivan Nikitich Inzov, receive the status of free citizens - at that time “the status of the Colonists”. Colonists receive free education and medicine, land units, and are exempted from taxes for years.

Bulgarians colonists preserved and passed on to generations of Thracian skill winemakers, gardening, grow wheat, sheep grazed the unique ancient breed that cherish to this day.

Specifications

A perfect aperitif when you are needing a little sparkle!

Tasting Notes

This wine has refreshing and crisp taste with sweet aftertaste. Subtle aroma of wine has notes of brioche and butter, cream and vanilla, toasted bread crusts.

Production

The wine is made by the classical method of champagnization (méthode traditionnelle) with ageing sur lie in bottles no less than 1,5 years. Bisser – Blanc de Blancs – is a classical brut from Chardonnay grapes from Kolonist vineyards. Degorgage is made manually.

History

The Ukrainian family winery of the Plachkov family has always been distinguished by diligence and thoroughness in the approach to the production of its wines. The search for new technologies and the use of the most modern equipment for production, control of all technological processes - this is the long-term success of "Kolonist" - the brightest representative of the wine industry of Ukraine.
And in the case of the creation of the brut "Bisser", Ivan Plachkov chose a non-standard approach for himself - not in theory, but in practice to gain knowledge and experience in the production of sparkling wines. In 2013, Ivan Vasilyevich went to England, Kent (the birthplace of the production of sparkling wines of royal standards). In the small town of Tenterdem, the owner of the Kolonist winery, Ivan Plachkov, got a job as a simple worker. For what? In order to personally study the full cycle of production of sparkling wines according to European standards. Only a few wineries can reveal the secret of the production of their wines, because small technological secrets are the key to the production of unique wines of their own brand. In Tenterdem, Ivan Vasilyevich participated in setting up the bottling line, prepared diatomaceous earth for the diatomaceous earth filtration process, carried out filtration, monitored the bottling, and also performed disgorgement and corking. In a word, he personally went through the process of creating sparkling wine.

Specifications

This is definitely for the adventurous wine drinker - like to try something different, natural, biodynamic - even a little 'funky' then this one is for you!

Tasting Notes

The aroma blends dried white fruits and meadow herbs, creating a unique bouquet of scents. With an excellent balance of acidity and harmony, the taste transitions into a long and rounded aftertaste.

Production

Experience the unique flavours of white wine from Biologist, the first Ukrainian winery dedicated to biodynamic practices. This wine is made from the Suholimansky grape variety. It displays a light golden colour, achieved through 10 days of cold maceration and 12 months of ageing in barrels, allowing the wine to unveil its depth and vibrancy.

Specifications

An impressive take on an orange wine from one of Lebanon's oldest wineries. The average age of the vines are 150 years old! Produced from Merweh, an indigenous Lebanese grape variety, given a dose of skin contact followed by maturation in qvevri, this is something different and with real character.

Tasting Notes

Colour

Light amber in colour

Nose

The nose rises up out to the glass to greet, with waves of spice, sweet clementine-infused fruit, and what can only be described as a sense of warmth. 

Palate

The palate opens up fresh and breezy, with the ripe apple and orange fruit coming through to fill up the mid-palate.  While nothing like as grippy as some orange wine there's also a pleasing hit of tannins, helping give the wine real structure and definition.

Production

The grapes were harvested in October. 100% manually with intensive selection in 20kg boxes. Several rounds are needed to obtain perfect ripeness. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in 19th-century made Amphoras for 7 days on skin contact, then followed by malolactic fermentation

Producer

Domaine des Tourelles was founded in 1868 by French adventurer François-Eugène Brun and is one of the most highly acclaimed and oldest wineries still operating in Lebanon. It was also the first commercial cellar in 'modern' Lebanon to produce wines, arak and other spirits. This place has history! The Brun family owned and ran the winery up until the last descendant died in 2003 but luckily two local families - the Issa and Issa el-Khoury families - joined forces to buy the property and continue the fine tradition of winemaking.

Today, this Bekaa Valley estate is run by the three Issa children - twins Faouzi and Johanne and their sister Christiane, alongside Emile Issa-el Khoury, son of one of the co-owners. This young and dynamic combination have introduced a handful of practices in the vineyards and cellar including the use of indigenous natural yeasts, no fining or filtering, and only very small amounts of sulphur. These techniques along with fruit from 40 hectares of ancient, organically cultivated and dry-farmed vineyards (among the oldest in the valley) and a winery perfect for hands-off winemaking, make Domaine des Tourelles one of the finest boutique wineries in the Middle East.

Specifications

A 50/50 blend of Merweh and Obeidi - indigenous Lebanese varieties from low yielding old vines. The Merweh vineyards are over 100 years old and have not been pruned for the last two decades, resulting in extremely low yields and concentrated flavours.

Tasting Notes

Colour

This blend of Merweh and Obeidi is golden in colour.

Nose

The nose has natural aromas of ripened grapes, apple skin and a mix of herbs and spices. 

Palate

Mineral and savoury on the palate, the wine shows notes of dried figs and fresh almonds on the finish.

Production

A blend of two indigenous Lebanese varieties that likey trace their lineage back to the Phoenicians, this wine is made from very old vines grown in altitude. Merweh vineyards are spread over the mountians of Bsharreh to the west of the Bekaa Valley at 1,400m altitude, in amongst the famous cedars of Mount Lebanon. Merweh is a resistant variety which has adpated very well to the Mediterranean mountain climate and ecosystem. Due to the wild nature of the Merweh vines, the ripening was uneven abd required several passes and a skilled team to select only perectly ripe grapes. Obeidi vineyards are grown on the hills of Zahleh - the capital of Bekaa Valley - at 1,100m altitude. These 50 year old vines are trained using a pergola system to ensure they enjoy the best sun exposure to reach maximum ripeness an balance on this late-ripening grape. Obeidi is a reliable and very resitant grape, considered to be the backbone of Behaa Valley's vines throughout its winemaking history. Both varieties were cold fermented separately, using wild yeast widely present in the winery. Once fermentation was complete, the wines we blended and stored for a short period of time in stainless steel tanks to keep the original freshness of the blend.

Producer

Domaine des Tourelles was founded in 1868 by French adventurer François-Eugène Brun and is one of the most highly acclaimed and oldest wineries still operating in Lebanon. It was also the first commercial cellar in 'modern' Lebanon to produce wines, arak and other spirits. This place has history! The Brun family owned and ran the winery up until the last descendant died in 2003 but luckily two local families - the Issa and Issa el-Khoury families - joined forces to buy the property and continue the fine tradition of winemaking.

Today, this Bekaa Valley estate is run by the three Issa children - twins Faouzi and Johanne and their sister Christiane, alongside Emile Issa-el Khoury, son of one of the co-owners. This young and dynamic combination have introduced a handful of practices in the vineyards and cellar including the use of indigenous natural yeasts, no fining or filtering, and only very small amounts of sulphur. These techniques along with fruit from 40 hectares of ancient, organically cultivated and dry-farmed vineyards (among the oldest in the valley) and a winery perfect for hands-off winemaking, make Domaine des Tourelles one of the finest boutique wineries in the Middle East.

Specifications