Shabo: Wines of Resilience from Ukraine

A great story, and great values as well.

Don’t get me started on Ukraine. I studied international relations in college and gradual school (where I gradually decided I didn’t want to go to school anymore), specifically U.S.-Soviet-China relations. So I know enough to remain interested in these issues, even though life took me along a different path. I don’t lord it in dinner conversations, because well, this is the Washington, D.C., area, and people here live this shit. And this is not a political newsletter, so I’ll leave the Ukraine situation and the betrayal of our foreign policy and our allies to more knowledgeable and eloquent voices, such as Alexander Vindman and Timothy Snyder. I highly recommend their analyses, by the way.

But then there’s wine. My first exposure to wine from Ukraine was in the late ‘90s at a tasting in D.C. of dessert wines from Massandra, a winery in Crimea established by Tsar Nicholas II to satisfy the Russian court’s sweet tooth. If memory serves, most of these wines were from the Stalinist heyday of the 1930s. They were delicious, and I felt strange tasting them, knowing that they were produced during an era of Stalinist induced famine in Ukraine that killed millions.

The culture center at Shabo winery in Ukraine. (Shabo.ua)

My next taste of Ukrainian wine came in 2022 at the inaugural Saperavi Festival held by Saperica, a group promoting the Georgian grape in the U.S. The festival was held at Dr. Konstantin Frank winery in the Finger Lakes. Frank was from Odesa and had been active in the Ukrainian wine sector during the 20s and 30s. Being of German ancestry, he managed to navigate the Nazi occupation and left when the Soviets retook Ukraine, eventually coming to New York where he was a leading pioneer in promoting vinifera wines in the Eastern U.S.

Last year at Vivinum, in Vienna, Austria, I wandered the back halls of the Hofburg Palace to find the wing where several Ukrainian wineries had a table. This was something you really had to want to taste, because they were tucked away in a corner, as it were. But the wines were delicious.

I absolutely fell in love with the mission, the people, the culture, the resilience and steadfastness in the face of absolutely overwhelming adversity. I felt like everything I had done in my life prepared me for what I was doing at that moment. —Sam Lerman, founder of Spyrt Worldwide

Recently, I was privileged to taste wines from Shabo winery, near Odesa, which are just entering the U.S. market here in D.C. and eventually in other cities. And I’m here to tell you, these wines not only have a great Ukraine story (and aren’t we always told a wine needs a story?) but they are downright delicious to boot.

I’ll try to do the story briefly. Wine in Ukraine dates to the Phoenician era, and even the Ottomans recognized the value of lands around the Black Sea for viticulture. Shabo winery was founded in 1822 near the town of the same name, on the Dniester estuary southwest of Odesa, by a group of winemakers who emigrated from Switzerland. The Black Sea is to the east, Moldova not far to the west. The winery remained in Swiss hands until the Bolsheviks nationalized it around 1920. It languished under Soviet rule, and about 2003, the independent Ukrainian government put the winery up for privatization. It was purchased by the Iukuridze family, Ukrainians of Georgian descent, who modernized the facilities and vineyards. They brought on Bordeaux consultant Stephane Derenoncourt to help with the winemaking.

Shabo is now headed by Giorgi Iukuridze, whom I met at Ruta, a Ukrainian restaurant, in Bethesda, Maryland, with his importer, Sam Lerman, who has a story of his own. Lerman served in the U.S. Air Force and reserve for about a dozen years, with tours in Afghanistan, and wound up in the defense industry handling strategic procurement for the Pentagon. Logistics, crucial stuff. He’s not the “I’ll tell you but I’ll have to kill you” type, but he does lace his conversation with the occasional “don’t print this.” Suffice to say, in April 2022, less than two months after the Russians launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he was contacted by some “retired Green Berets” and asked if he’d be willing to spend a few days in Ukraine on a very unofficial advisory mission to Kyiv.

“So that’s how I ended up in a Ukrainian safe house with three cell phones, a laptop, a bottle of booze and an AK-74,” Lerman said. When the others decided their mission was done, Lerman stayed for several more weeks.

“I absolutely fell in love with the mission, the people, the culture, the resilience and steadfastness in the face of absolutely overwhelming adversity,” he said. “I felt like everything I had done in my life prepared me for what I was doing at that moment.”

Lerman also fell in love with Ukrainian wine and was dismayed when he came back to the U.S. and couldn’t find any. On subsequent trips, because he couldn’t get Ukraine, its people, its struggle and its valor out of his mind, he brought back as much Ukrainian wine and booze as he could cram in his luggage, which apparently led to some fascinating discussions with Polish customs officers.

So one of Lerman’s ventures now is Spyrt Worldwide, through which he is now introducing the wines of Shabo into the United States. He’s donating some of the profits to support Invictus Global Response, a group of American veterans who volunteer to deactivate and remove landmines in Ukraine.

I don’t know if Lerman’s timing is good or bad, given the whipsaw nature of U.S. policy toward Ukraine under this new Trump administration. But any wine lovers who want to show support for Ukraine should try these wines, not just for the story, but because they are delicious and affordably priced.

Grape nerds will love Shabo too, because they feature a variety called Telti Kuruk, which translates loosely as “fox tail.” It’s a white grape originally planted during the Ottoman Empire that today exists only in Ukraine, and Shabo is the only winery with Telti Kuruk on its own rootstock, says Giorgi Ikukuridze.

Most of Shabo’s wines are line-priced in three tiers: Original wines will retail at about $15, Reserve around $25, Grand Reserve — oldest vines, hand-harvested and treated with special care (you know the drill) — about $55.

Here are some Shabo wines now available in the United States, through Spyrt Worldwide.

Primosecco ($14) - This charmat sparkling wine is Shabo’s answer to Prosecco, made entirely of Telti Kuruk, and should be a top seller. It’s fruity and aromatic, yet dry, and is absolutely delicious. If I had a restaurant, I’d be tempted to offer a flute of this wine to welcome guests, tell them the story, and then sell them a bottle of another Shabo wine to enjoy with their meal. (But of course, that’s why I’m not a restaurateur.)

Vaja Grand Reserve Brut 2016 ($60). This blanc de blancs is 100% chardonnay, aged eight years on the lees. It has impressive depth and elegance, with a fine bead of bubbles. It’s quite good and comparable to traditional method sparkling wines at this price.

Telti Kuruk Reserve 2023 ($25-ish). Nutty, herbal nose, lemongrass and ginger. Giorgi says “seabuckthorn.” I’ll take his word for it. He also says “this wine’s superpower is food pairing.” I believe it — the wine is delicious and seems to be waiting for a piece of fish or poultry to elevate.

Telti Kuruk Grande Reserve 2022 ($55-ish). Barrel fermented in 228-liter and 500-liter vessels. The flavor profile is similar to the Reserve but more intense with a honeyed note on the nose.

Chardonnay Grande Reserve 2019 ($55). Laser focus, great acidity and balance. The oak adds structure and a bit of toast on the finish. This is quite delicious, though it may not stand out in a sea of good chardonnay at this price level.

Cabernet Sauvignon Original 2022 ($15). Free-run juice that’s tank-fermented and then “straight to the bottle,” this is a delightful cabernet for weeknight dinner or for a by-the-glass program in a restaurant. Herbal nose, with green pepper, blackberry fruit. Juicy and fun.

Saperavi Reserve 2023 ($25). Dark red color (saperavi is a teinturier grape, meaning its flesh is red as well as the skin). Jammy black currant fruit, yet tart with good acidity. Beautifully balanced, with a medium-long finish. Aged six months in two-year-old barrels.

Saperavi-Merlot Limited Edition 2022 ($30). When I asked Iukuridze if his family in Georgia had been winemakers, he smiled and said, “Only in the way every family in Georgia makes wine.” But he couldn’t resist procuring some kvevri. This wine made in the traditional Georgian manner is tarry and mushroomy and very inky. My mind immediately went to the Northern Rhone Valley and the dense, powerful wines of Cornas.

Cabernet-Merlot Grand Reserve 2023 ($55). An 80-20 blend, sinewy on the palate, with flavors of blackcurrant, fig, and olive, with a long finish. Really lovely.