Dauga: learning patience in the Ukraine

Wine consultant Olivier Dauga has said he has been learning the value of patience after 10 years of working in the Ukraine.

Dauga was first invited to consult in the Ukraine 10 years ago by Ivan Plachkov, the founder of Kolonist, a winery in Bessarabia in the south-west of the country in the Odessa Oblast (pictured).

Plachkov founded the winery in 2005 with the aim of helping a “winemaking renaissance” in the region, that has a viticultural history dating back to Roman times but which had fallen into what appeared to be an irreparable decline in the post-Soviet world.

Speaking to the drinks business, Dauga explained there had been numerous challenges to overcome. The topsoil is very rich so the roots have to be encouraged to grow downwards to the limestone bedrock underneath.

Bureaucracy is also still a problem, much of how the country’s labeling and production laws work are still based on “outdated” Soviet lines.

It’s also taken time to bring local tastes round to more modern winemaking techniques, many Ukrainians having a taste for oxidized and/or hugely sweet wines, white or red, as well as training workers in both the vineyards and cellars.

“Details make great wine,” he said, “and it takes time to make people realise and appreciate that.”

On the other hand, he continued, that was an obstacle one could often find in France as well.

Despite the challenges he added it was a “real pleasure to work for Kolonist and to witness the constant evolution of the wines they produce.

“The vineyard is still young, only 10 years old and they’ll get older. As they do we’ll better learn to control them and their vigour. We can only continue to progress.”