Definition: Ukraine

Most of Ukraine's wine production is concentrated in Crimea, particularly around Yalta, on the Black Sea coast. In 1894, Tsar Nicholas II ordered the construction of the Massandra Estate near Yalta, with the aim of making it the best wine estate in the world. He failed to produce dry white and red wines and gradually specialised in dessert wines and fortified wines. The estate thus produced all types of wines, including Madeira, Tokaji (Tokay), Sauternes, Port and Sherry. Since then, every year, part of the production has been cellared to build up the "collection". Today, more than a million bottles are stored, a kind of memory of the century.