Ukrainian wine

[2] A wine culture existed in today's Ukraine already in the 4th century BC at the south coast of the Crimea.

In 1822, with the approval of Tsar Alexander I, Swiss winegrowers from the canton Vaud established a colony at Shabo (French: Chabag).

[3] The founder of the famous sparkling wines is prince Lev Golitsyn, who for the first time manufactured Russian "Champagner" after the Crimean War (1854 to 1856) on his property Novyi Svit near Yalta.

It came to a disaster in 1986: about 800 km2 (309 sq mi) of the vineyards were destroyed, when Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev started a campaign against the over-consumption of alcohol in USSR.

[citation needed] After the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine lost not only 17 thousand hectares of vineyards, but also wineries that provided 60% of wines.