The wines of Kolonist Winery

Kolonist is a family winery in Danube Bessarabia, in the far south-west of Ukraine, and one of the wineries that have put modern Ukrainian winemaking on the map. It is best known for Odesa Black, a Ukrainian red grape from which Kolonist was the first to make a varietal wine, and which, thanks in part to this winery, has become the calling card of Ukrainian wine. Kolonist also makes a white wine from the indigenous Sukholymanske, as well as wines from international varieties.

Check out our 4 wines made by Kolonist Winery

The winery's name refers to the history of the region. From the second half of the eighteenth century, colonists of diverse origins settled in southern Bessarabia: Germans, French, Greeks, Bulgarians and Gagauz. They were given land and privileges, including exemption from taxes, and soon made the arid steppe flourish.

Among them were Bulgarians fleeing the Ottoman Empire. In 1813 they founded the village of Krynychne on the shore of Lake Yalpuh, Ukraine's largest freshwater lake. The Plachkov family also came with these Bulgarian colonists. Krynychne still has one of the largest Bulgarian communities in Ukraine, where an old Bulgarian dialect is spoken and centuries-old traditions are kept alive.

The founder of Kolonist Winery, Ivan Plachkov, was born in Krynychne in 1957. In the 1990s he was Minister of Energy and governor of the Odesa region. In 2005 he founded the winery with his family, aiming to make premium wines from his native region and to draw attention to the area.

The beginnings were modest: in 2005 Kolonist had one and a half hectares of vineyards and made 3,000 bottles a year. From 2007 the winery worked with the French oenologist Olivier Dauga from Bordeaux, and quality improved by leaps and bounds every year.

Kolonist is run by Ivan Plachkov and his wife Alla, who as co-owner and wine expert plays an important role in promoting the wines. Decanter named her one of the most influential women in modern Ukrainian wine.

Presentations in the British Parliament in 2008 and 2009, the first time Ukrainian wine was poured there, played an important role in the winery's international recognition. The well-known British wine critic Oz Clarke tasted the wines in 2011 and 2017 and predicted that Kolonist would put Bessarabia on the world wine map. Kolonist was also the first Ukrainian winery to have a label featured in The World Atlas of Wine. Since 2016 the winery has regularly won awards at the International Wine Challenge, and its wines are exported to countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Kolonist Winery's vineyards lie on south-west-facing slopes above Lake Yalpuh, in the area between the Danube and the Dniester that Plachkov calls Danube Bessarabia, a name that has since caught on in Ukraine. The area lies on the same latitude as Bordeaux and Piedmont and has a warm climate. The vines receive double sunlight, directly from the sun and reflected by the lake, while the wind keeps the vineyards dry and healthy.

The soil consists of mineral-rich loam with deep layers of limestone. The grapes are picked by hand. Kolonist now has 72 hectares of vineyards and makes around 300,000 bottles a year. In the cellar, the winery uses modern equipment from France, Germany and Italy, as well as French oak barrels.

The heart of Kolonist is Odesa Black, also known as Alibernet, a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet. The grape was developed in the mid-twentieth century at the Tairov Institute near Odesa, but for a long time was used mainly for cheap bulk wine. In 2007 Kolonist released the first varietal Odesa Black. Dozens of Ukrainian winemakers now grow the grape, and since 2021 Kolonist has held an annual 'Odesa Black' day.

Kolonist was also the first winery to make a varietal wine from the white Sukholymanske, another grape from the Tairov Institute. The winery also makes wines from international varieties, such as a Cabernet-Merlot and an oak-aged Chardonnay. Finally, its Bisser is a sparkling wine made by the traditional method. We currently have four wines from Kolonist Winery in our range. You can view all our wines from Kolonist Winery here.

If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Kolonist Winery.